Magic comes to Riverdale

by choejhulkp9

REPLACING RIVERDALE THE GANG PLUS ONE. The town of Riverdale was weird. A lot of strange things happened that wouldn't happen in a normal town. Maybe there was a reason for that? Lucky for them, they have someone there to help them. A protector who ends up involved in a crime investigation, serial killers and crazy cults but he's got something they don't. Magic can do wonders.

1. Humble Beginnings

Hey guys, here's another take on a Riverdale/Sabrina/Dr. Strange/OC story. I love my first story to pieces as any writer can, but I want to try and do a different story with a different pairing. Honestly, with Riverdale becoming what it is, I'm honestly not sure what happened and any interest to continue it in a regular sense went out the window when the writers started throwing darts at story ideas to see what fit. So, I'm doing a different twist that could work with Magic and stuff. I'm not sure about the pairing yet. I thought it would be an OC/Josie for the beginning but seeing as how Josie will be on Katie Keene, maybe eventually OC/Betty. But I could end up changing my mind and doing an OC/Veronica or an OC/Cheryl/Toni or maybe an OC/Sabrina so who knows. Let me know what you guys think about this. This story came as a suggestion from Dopeenight as an OC for the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, so I decided to add my own twist to it. I don't know a lot about Sabrina and the only real magic things I know about are from Dr. Strange and Supernatural, so I thought up of a twist to the whole Sabrina/Witch.

Will is an enigma by birth. Son of a powerful sorcerer on the side of good and a human mother born on a rare night of an unexpected Syzygy and eclipse, he was marked with a gift from above. His father died when he was born leaving him with his mother and his uncle Wong. All his life he knew he was different, but he didn't realize just how much and how much of a target it put on his back. Enjoy!

Magic comes to Riverdale: Humble beginnings masking a larger destiny

Riverdale: June 24th, 2017

Riverdale, the Town with Pep. Ha, that was a loud of bull. The town wasn't bad at all but it wasn't exactly home to Pippi Longstocking or those cheerleaders from Bring it on. Still it was a nice place to call home. Like all small towns in the US it had its charms and was safe and quiet. Everyone knew everyone and the families that lived here had probably been here for years. Not a lot happened in Riverdale, but it was home. At Riverdale High, the school year was over which was exciting news for the students. The seniors were finally done with high school while the other students were beyond happy to have the summer off. One such student was William Arcani Strange or Will for short. He preferred that.

He was just your average ordinary freshman who was beyond happy to have the summer off. Will walked out of his last class and over to his locker, passing other students who gave him a happy smile or a cheerful hug and embrace as he walked by. He was one of those kids who were instantly likeable. The kind of person who was easy to talk to and was the best friend you could have. He was well known throughout the school as someone you wanted to have as a friend even though he was a bit of a science nerd. He was short, around 5ft 6, wore glasses, and always had textbooks in his arms. If you looked up the dictionary definition of nerd or geek…it would probably show a picture of him. His looks left him the subject of bullies and idiots who couldn't see how good of a friend he was like Chuck Clayton or Reggie Mantle.

He walked over to his locker to grab his stuff which was a lot. There were tiny little boxes of presents or gifts in his locker because today was his birthday. He put a box of chocolate in his backpack when he noticed an old photo he taped to the door. It was of him and his friends back in grade school smiling in front of the school on their first day. There was him, Jughead Jones, Archie Andrews, and Betty Cooper. Those were good times but unfortunately things changed and not for the better. Sometime in middle school, Archie decided he didn't want to hang out with him anymore for whatever reason. Whether it was because he didn't want to be friends or because he wanted to focus on football and be popular and thought that a science nerd wouldn't help is up to debate but Betty followed him. Considering she had a puppy dog crush on him since they were kids, she followed him around and they hadn't been friends in years. Jughead he was still best friends with but aside from school stuff he never hung out Archie or Betty. Not for a lack of trying on his part but they didn't seem to return the favor.

"Hey, Will." He was brought out of his thoughts when he heard his name called. He turned and saw Kevin Keller walk up to him. He was son of the Sheriff and best friend of Will. Someone Kevin went to talk to whenever he felt like talking and for getting help with school work. Kevin was kind of an intermediator between him and Betty in the hopes to get them as friends again but so far, no luck.

"Hey, Kevin. What's up?" Will asked.

"Just making sure that we're still set for your little birthday celebration at Pop's today." Kevin told him.

"Sure, just as we agreed it's a small thing where we all meet up and just relax. No birthday cake, no people jumping out and shouting surprise and definitely no clowns. Just a relaxing end of the school year meet up at Pop's and then I have to leave at 6. My mom needs me home by then for the trip." He told her.

"Right, what trip is this again?" Kevin asked for clarification.

"I'm still not sure. My mom and Uncle Wong are being uncharacteristically tight lipped about it but supposedly it's something that my dad wanted me to do when I turned sixteen." He explained.

"You never talk about him at all." Kevin said.

"That's because I don't know much about him other than the fact that he died when I was born, and he was supposed to be some kind of brilliant doctor back in New York City. Whenever I ask about him, they'd tell me to wait until I turned sixteen." He told him.

"Well, happy Sixteenth birthday. Maybe it's some kind secret birthday scavenger hunt?" Kevin suggested.

"If it is then it better be a challenging one." He said, grabbing his jacket from his locker which knocked some of his small presents down. "Dammit, could you get that?"

Will closed his locker as Kevin picked up the small boxes. One was a cherry red eyeglass container while the other was a cheetah-print wrapped CD case. "Let me guess, gifts from Cheryl Blossom and Josie McCoy?"

"Ding-ding-ding. That's the answer we were looking for Tommy." He joked, like he was the announcer of a game show. "They gave them to me last period. Cheryl got me new frames for my glasses that would make me look less nerdy and Josie got me a jazz CD."

"Nice. I still find it hard to believe that your good friends with Cheryl Blossom of all people. I mean, I know you're one of the nicest guys in school but even to me that seems impossible." Kevin pointed out.

"Remember what they say about William Arcani Strange, Mr. Keller, impossible is just another Tuesday for me." He said like a wise sage. "I'll see you later, Kev."

"See ya and don't get run over on that bike!" Kevin shouted.

Will walked out of school and walked over to his bike. He undid the chains and put it in his backpack when he got glimpse of Cheryl and Jason walking over to their car. He waved goodbye and Cheryl waved back with a delightful smile. Despite her reputation of Queen Bee, being kind of intense and because Will is Will he broke through that shell and was probably one of the few people she could call a close friend. Jason looked at him and gave him a respectful nod before they left. Jason was protective of Cheryl but like the others, he was friendly to him.

Will put on his helmet and biked home, enjoying the delightful summer breeze as he moved through town. After about ten minutes of biking he stopped at his house which was a traditional suburb two story home. He chained up his bike by the old tree out front and walked into the front door to see his Uncle Wong packing up some food for the trip. Wong wasn't his actual Uncle with Wong being a 40-year-old Hong Kong native, Will just called him that. Apparently, Wong worked closely with his dad before Will was born and he stuck around to look after him and his mother. He worked part-time at City Hall and at the library.

"Hey, Uncle Wong. Packing early?" He asked, seeing Wong packing sandwiches and half the fridge.

"Nothing wrong with packing early and being prepared. Besides, we don't want the food in the refrigerator going bad while we're gone." Wong told him.

"Right…" He chuckled to himself when he saw his mom, Dr. Christine Palmer come down the stairs with their luggage. "Hey, mom."

"Hey, honey. So, we're all packed up. All that leaves us is any of your little nick-knacks or things you want to take with us for the trip." She told him.

"All right, I'll go pack my said nick-knacks." He joked, heading up stairs to his room. Said room was littered with sci-fi movie posters and little tchotchkes along with a book shelf filled and overflowing with literature from light novels to heavier books. J.R.R. Tolkien and George R.R. Martin shared the bookcase with Kurt Vonnegut, Shakespeare, Socrates, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Leo Tolstoy, Sun Tzu, and Confucius. One thing people could agree with on Will is that he's smart. His bed was neatly made and in pristine condition but was also covered with old books and comic books. He was rife with contradictions.

He packed up some books and his laptop for the trip along with doing some cleaning. Once he was finished, he grabbed his jacket and walked downstairs. "All right, I'm all packed. I'll see you later when I come home at six." He told them.

"Wait, Will before you go." His mom walked over and held out a small box wrapped with a ribbon. "Happy Birthday."

"Oh, mom you didn't have to do this." He assured her as he took the box, unwrapped the ribbon and opened it to see it was a necklace. The chain was made of a thin but strong fiber holding a small gold metal trinket. An oval shaped trinket of gold with intricate carvings and in the middle was a symbol of four lines intersecting. The trinket on the necklace was about the size of his palm and fairly large. "What is it?"

"It belonged to your father. It's called the Eye of Agamotto. He got it in India on a trip." She explained.

"He received it from a shaman who gave it to him as a gift. It supposedly protects the wearer from any harm." Wong added.

"A charm that protects me from harm. Where was this when Chuck Clayton decided to antagonize me?" He joked before putting it in his pocket. The necklace was too big to wear. "Thanks, mom."

He gave his mother a tight hug and she hugged him back. "I love you."

"I love you too, mom. I'll be back right on time, I promise." He said, walking to the door.

"You better or you're in trouble." She told him as he walked out the door. Once he was out the door, she looked at Wong with a look of worry. "The necklace will protect him, right?"

"It will. The Eye is a powerful relic and Stephen enchanted it with a powerful and unbreakable spell. It will protect him." Wong assured her.

"Good." She replied, looking at the calendar with today's date, June 24th circled in red. "His world will change forever after today. I just hope they don't find him too quickly."

"As do I." Wong said.

Will was blissfully unaware of his mother's worry as he biked to Pop Tate's Chocklit shoppe. It took him about twenty minutes but eventually arrived at the old dinner and parked his bike outside like he always does when he visits. He walked inside and saw Pop Tate working the counter like he always does with Kevin and his friends over in the corner waiting for him. "There's the birthday boy!" Pop shouted getting everyone's attention. Kevin and his friends walked over as Pop handed Will a chocolate milkshake, his favorite. "Now before you kids have your little party, I'd like to say a few words for the birthday boy."

"Really, Pop you don't need to do that." Will pleaded with him.

"Shut up, Will and let him talk." Melody told him as they raised their milkshake glasses.

"To the young man who single-handedly organized the charity carwash to help City Hall, who organized the clean-up efforts of Pop's after the storm, and who has probably helped dozens of other people in this town: Happy Birthday Will!" Pop shouted.

"Happy Birthday!" Everyone shouted as they cheer their milkshake glasses while Will turned a shade of red in embarrassment.

"Kevin, did you have anything to do with this?" Will asked.

"This time, actually no. Come on, sit down." Kevin moved him over to the far booth where everyone relaxed, ate food, and gave Will his birthday presents. Kevin got him a new red light windbreaker jacket, Ethel got him a copy of The Institute by Stephen King, Melody got him some cool sunglasses, Valerie got him a book on French because he mentioned he wanted to learn the language, Trevor got him a new comic book, Josie had already given her gift, and Jason had dropped off a water polo shirt for some reason. About twenty minutes into the party, Jughead walked in.

"Jughead!" Will got up and hugged him and the known loner from the Southside smiled and hugged back.

"Hey, Happy Birthday. Normally I don't do birthday but considering I've made exceptions for you since I've known you, I figured I'd keep that going. Here." Jughead handed him a copy of A Clockwork Orange to complete his dystopian novel collection.

"Thanks, Jughead. Come on. I just ordered onion rings." Will led him to the table and the party continued.

About two hours later the party was almost over, and Will had a great time. "Thanks again for doing this, guys. It was a lot of fun."

"Don't mention it. Considering we won't be seeing you this summer until school starts again then we got our fun while we could." Kevin told her.

"So, you're really going to be gone for the whole summer?" Josie asked.

"Yeah. I'm not even sure where I'm going but it's supposed to be important if my dad wanted me to do it. Maybe I'll finally get some answers as to who he was." Will said, taking out the necklace he got from his mom to show everyone. "My mom gave me this and said it belonged to him. And considering she gave it to me today rather than earlier I think it has something to do with it."

"Um…interesting necklace." Kevin put it the best he could, but the thing was quite large.

"What is it?" Ethel asked.

"It's supposed to be some kind of charm my dad got in India from a shaman." Will explained as Jughead picked it up and looked it over. "I'm wondering if he got scammed and I'm holding the proof."

"Is this real gold?" Jughead asked only for Will to shrug his shoulders. He turned it over and didn't seen any kind of serial number or trademark etching that would signify it was mass produced or made in a factory. "This doesn't look factory made."

"How can you tell?" Melody asked.

"No serial number or factory mark. It looks clean and…" Jughead used his finger to scratch the metal and it didn't flick off, so it wasn't paint. "…it's not painted. Where did you say he got this?"

"My mom said he got it on a trip to India and it's a charm to protect the wearer from harm. It's called the Eye of Agamotto." Will told him.

"Eye of avocado?" Josie joked.

"Agamotto. I've never heard of it. Considering he got it from a Shaman from India, if the story is true, then something tells me a simple google search won't be enough to figure out what this thing is." Will joked. "If it really is a charm that prevents the wearer from harm then I could have used it years ago."

"You should take it to an appraiser or professor if you have the chance. That thing could be real gold and be an amazing discovery." Jughead suggested.

"I think New York City has a few colleges." He replied before checking his phone and saw it was 5:45. "Thanks again guys for this. You didn't have to but it was really nice. I'll keep in touch and hopefully see you guys before school starts again."

"Bye Will." They all bid him farewell with hugs and such before he grabbed the necklace and his jacket and began biking his way home. He left Pop's and biked down the road to make it back to the suburbs. He turned a corner and made his way down a street when he saw someone appear in the middle of the road which made his swerve to avoid crashing. He hit the brake and swerved which ended with him eating pavement.

"Oh, crap. Talk about road rash." He got up and patted himself down to clean off the dirt and pebbles along with making sure nothing was broken. He looked around and saw the street was empty. "Huh, weird."

He grabbed his bike and got back on when he felt something rush behind him only to look and see nothing. "What the hell?" Suddenly, the lights along the street bursts and broken glass rained down along with more whispers and more whooshing. "Oh, man. If I didn't see the Conjuring, I'd be a lot less scared right now."

"You have nothing to be afraid of, half-breed." He turned and saw a man walking up to him from down the road. He was wearing a fancy black suit that looked like something out of the Victorian era and had a cane. "It will all be over soon."

Somehow 15 more people appeared on the street and surrounded him. Before he could even think of biking out of there a beautiful girl appeared in front of him. She was dark skinned, wearing a creepy dress that evil girl from the Orphan movie wore. She waved her hand and spoke a few words of Latin which made him drowsy before he passed out.

One hour later…

The crackling sound of firewood woke up Will from the heavy sleep he was under. He felt drowsy like you would if you woke up after a hangover or if you took too many sleeping pills. He noticed he wasn't lying down or standing up but had his hands tied above his head and angled so he stayed on his feet. He shook his head and blinked his eyes a few times and felt he wasn't wearing his glasses but noticed he didn't need them. It was like his vision went from needing corrective lenses to completely perfect. Although, he kind of wished he couldn't see because he didn't like what he saw.

He was in the woods which didn't help at all and in front of him was a raging fire with a pedestal and stone slab in front of it along with ornate and creepy looking branch effigies. The kind you would see in front of Leatherface's house or the compound of the Manson family. There were torches farther out in a large circle around him and there were dozens of people standing around dressed like they were at a Halloween party or in Victorian style clothes like the weird man and that girl he saw. Speaking of her, he saw her standing next to two other girls dressed the same way. Once the girl saw him wake up, she walked over with a menacing smirk before grabbing his face so she could get a good look at him.

"It's a shame this has to happen. You're rather cute. I would have enjoyed playing with you a little." She said to him like a serial killer would to their victim. That's when his vision acted up again and he saw half her face morph from the beautiful girl about two years older than him into some kind of grey colored ghoul with reptile-like eyes, no nose bone, and sharp teeth.

"What the hell are you?" Will asked, scared out of his mind at what he was seeing.

"So, you can see who she is underneath." He heard and saw the same guy from the road walk over to him. "You are far more powerful than I gave you credit for. I'm impressed but it won't matter after tonight."

"Look, please don't do this. I'm begging you, whatever you're about to do you don't have to do this." Will begged him.

"Begging? Never in my life did I expect to see the Dark Lord's greatest adversary beg for his life." The man said.

"Please. You've got the wrong guy. I don't know any of you." Will begged him.

"Oh, but we know you. Don't worry, it will all be over soon." The man told him.

"Lord Blackwood, we are ready." One of the women said and he smiled.

"Perfect." Blackwood replied as everyone gathered around. "We are gathered here together in these woods, in the presence of our Dark lord, with all the souls of the living and the dead, of our coven: the most unholy church of Night."

One of the women walked over with a cup of blood so Blackwood could dip his finger in it. He walked over to Will who struggled and moved away only for the branches to come up from the ground to wrap around his legs and the girl's friends held his head in place. Despite their looks they were crazy strong. Blackwood drew some kind of symbol on Will's forehead in blood and once he was done, he had a creepy smile on his face. "Dark Lord, we give to you an offering of absolute power. Take this sacrifice and kill your sworn enemy so that you may come back to our world!"

"Do I get a say in this?" Will asked only for Blackwood to backhand him across the face. Which turned out to be a big mistake as a bright glow erupted from Will's pocket once he did that. Blackwood and the girls back away from the light as did everyone else while Will felt himself filled with the feeling of ease and happiness. The light made the vines wrapped around Will's body vanish and he was free. He quickly stood up and pulled the light out of his pocket to see it was the eye of Agamotto that was glowing. Once he held it in his hand it glowed brighter than it did before, so much so that it caused everyone to shield their eyes but not Will. The Eye flashed a yellow/orange spectral light that was mirrored in Will's own eyes, indicating that it did something.

"The Eye of Agamotto! Why didn't you get rid of it?!" Blackwood shouted.

"It wasn't there before!" one of the girls shouted.

"I'm not entirely sure what this is or who you people are, but something tells me you're in for a world of hurt! Winds of Watoomb!" Will shouted as he held the Eye forward and it released a magical gust of wind that knocked them all away and put out the surrounding fires except for the pyre in the middle. "First step to knock them out. Second step, run like hell!"

Will put the Eye of Agamotto around his neck and ran like hell. He wasn't sure where he was or where he was running but anywhere was better than here. If you saw him right now it would look like something ripped out of a horror movie. "Come on, legs! Come on! God, why did puberty have to be so unforgiving with me?!" He said to himself when a root seemed to extend from nowhere and trip him. A tumble to the ground got him dirty and hurt but he quickly got back up only to see Blackwood and all those people surrounding him.

"Did you really think you could escape us on foot?" Prudence asked.

"I was kind of hoping for it." Will said, looking around and he was trapped.

"That arrogance and humor. Just like your father." Blackwood said as Will looked at him. "Although it didn't seem to do him any good now did it?"

"What the hell are you talking about? What do you know about my father?!" Will shouted.

"Oh, just to know that he was a traitor and a coward who not only violated our sacred order's laws by leaving us with his tail between his legs but to marry a mortal woman and have…you." Blackwood said in disgust. "You putrid, disgusting, waste of flesh. The sooner I kill you then better the world will be."

Blackwood thrust his hand forward and large tree trunks burst from the ground, wrapping themselves around Will before pulling him against a tree. His arms were trapped, he couldn't move, and he felt the tree trunks getting tighter. "Come on, you stupid eye! Do something!" He wheezed out.

"How pitiful. All that power stuck in that mortal body. Well, it won't be for much longer." Blackwood said with a smirk. He and everyone began chanting in Latin and whatever it was it wasn't good because the entire forest began to shake like there was an earthquake. The Eye of Agamotto began to shine like it did before and the trunks wrapped around Will vanished which dropped him unceremoniously on his ass and the impact knocked the necklace off his neck. He quickly crawled over to grab it only for Prudence to step on his wrist.

"You're not going anywhere, half-breed." She warned him.

"Something tells me you're single." He replied when the chanting stopped. "Oh, please let that be a good sign."

"It's not." Prudence said with glee. Rhythmic stomping could be heard which got faster and faster and then was followed up by something that Will was sure he would hear in his dreams.

[DEMONIC ROAR!] Blackwood and the others smiled while Will froze in fear. "Oh, dear god I think I peed a little." Loud footsteps came into view behind one of the trees and it was something only thought up in a horror movie. It looked a minotaur out a Greek myth but more monstrous and its mouth and horns were dripping blood. "I really wish this was just a dream."

Will knocked Prudence's heel off his wrist and ran, forgetting about the Eye of Agamotto but didn't make it two feet away before he was tackled from the side by the centaur and knocked to the ground like a linebacker would do to a running back. The centaur grabbed him by the neck and threw him against the tree. His feet dangled off the ground and he struggled to get free but couldn't do anything. The centaur roared in his face before getting close and sniffing him.

[Spawn of Strange…you have his reek of weakness…of cowardice. I shall enjoy…. feasting on your soul. The Dark Lord fears you…but not anymore!] The Demon Centaur roared and was ready to bite off Will's head only for a yellow/orange shield of light to come out of nowhere and cut the demon's arm off at the elbow. [ARGH! IT BURNS!]

Will coughed up a lung when he saw the dismembered arm on the ground wither away like a rotting plant. The demon, Blackwood, the others, and Will looked to the side to see a glowing yellow portal and someone to come through and it was Wong. He was wearing some kind of orange martial arts robe and was wielding an axe. Wong made some kind of martial art form with his hands and the same yellow/orange shield appeared in his hand. "Uncle Wong?"

"Run, Will!" Wong shouted, striking his axe to the ground, and sending out various beams of orange energy that hit Blackwood and his followers. The demon roared and charged at him only for Wong to fight back with some impressive martial arts skills. Will quickly got to his feet and ran but skid to a stop and grabbed the Eye of Agamotto off the ground. "To the portal, go!"

He ran as fast as he could and jumped into the portal to enter some kind of large foyer of a manor where he saw his mom waiting for him. "WILL!" She ran over to hug him, and he hugged back. "Oh my god, I was so worried!"

"I'm fine! Where's Uncle Wong?!" Will looked behind him and saw Wong still fighting the demon. "UNCLE!"

Wong slashed the demon in the side and turned to the run to the portal only to get knocked to the ground by demon and dragged by the ankle. Will looked around and saw a spear on the corner so he quickly grabbed it and ran back to help him. "WILL, NO!" His mother shouted but he didn't listen and jumped back through.

Wong was thrown into a tree and landed with a loud thud. He spit out some blood and held his side in pain as the demon stalked up to him, ready to kill him then and there. [I will enjoy feasting on your soul—ARGH!]

The demon shouted in pain as Will stabbed it from behind with a spear. "Feast on this asshole!" Will shouted only for the demon to backhand him in the chest, knocking him onto his back. Wong blasted the demon with his magical shield and stumbled over to Will, helping him back to his feet.

"Coming after me was stupid." Wong chastised him as he struggled to stand so Will supported him.

"Yeah, well I'm entitled to some stupid moments every now and then." Will replied when he saw they were surrounded. Wong took the spear and was ready to fight to the death to protect him but the odds weren't in his favor. Will looked at the Eye of Agamotto and began shaking it, hoping it would do something but nothing. "Come on, you stupid thing! Wings of Wambo! Do something!"

"Tonight, we end the lives of the enemies of the Church of the Night!" Blackwood shouted and the demon roared. Before they could attack, the sun had finally set and the moon rose over the horizon, a full moon. It shined on Will and a moon symbol over his heart glowed through his shirt and jacket, filling him with an immense power and insight as to what to do next. His eyes began glowing blue as he held the Eye of Agamotto forward and it shined a bright light onto the group.

"I call upon the power of the Vishanti and the wisdom of Agamotto, banish this demon from this plane of existence!" A bellowing deep voice came from Will and the Eye blasted a powerful beam of blue energy that hit the demon. Once the energy hit the demon, a shockwave knocked Blackwood and his followers away. The demon roared in pain before it exploded into chunky soup. Once the demon was killed, the beam of energy stopped, and Will collapsed from exhaustion, but Wong caught him. He quickly moved Will over to the portal while Blackwood and his brood were gathering their senses, and both jumped through. He made a circle with his hand and the portal closed. Will dropped to the ground and his mother caught him before his head hit the floor. She cradled his head, worried for his safety but relaxed once she saw he was just resting. Little did he know that it was only the beginning of a larger destiny that had been waiting for him.

Line Break xxxxx

The distinct sound of construction and car horns woke up Will from his sleep, the kind of sleep you would get after doing a triathlon. "Ugh…" A groan of anguish was followed up by a loud yawn before he opened his eyes. It seemed to be a bedroom but not his. Ornate cabinets and dressers, beautiful wallpaper and furnishings, an intricately carved glass ceiling light, and his luggage and backpack in the corner. Will got off the king sized 5-star bed and walked over to the adjacent bathroom which looked like something ripped out of a magazine for the rich and famous…from the 1950s.

"Where in the good name of the Marty McFly and Doc Brown am I?" He asked himself. The bedroom door creaked open and in walked his mother, wearing her casual clothes. "Mom!"

"Will, oh good, you're awake." She rushed over and hugged him, and he hugged back. He was beyond happy she was ok. "I'm so glad you're ok."

"Me too." He said, separating from the hug and taking a deep breath. "You will not believe the dream I had. Creepy cults, giant minotaurs and Uncle Wong in a martial arts outfit."

She looked at him with a smile before she got serious. "That wasn't a dream. It happened two nights ago."

"Yeah, right." He chuckled to himself only for her to hold up the Eye of Agamotto. "It wasn't a dream?"

"No, it wasn't." She told him as he sat down on the bed to let that sink in. "That all happened, and Wong and I were beyond worried about you but you're alive now and so is he."

"Wait, two nights ago? I've been asleep for two days?" Will was having a hard time believing all of that and what just happened. "What the hell is going on and where am I?"

"Let's talk about that over breakfast. Your uncle and his students are waiting. Come with me." She led him out of the room to the hallway that was ripped right out of Ritz Carlton hotel. They kept moving until they took the stairs down to the first-floor foyer and he remembered it being the place where that portal took him to. He walked down and saw it was furbished and designed more like a museum then a home with glass display cases all over the place with things he wasn't sure of.

"Where are we?" He asked.

"This place goes by many names but the one your father was most fond of is the Sanctum Sanctorum." Wong said, walking into the foyer from another room dressed in the same robes as before but cleaner.

"Uncle!" Will rushed over and hugged him and Wong hugged back, happy he was ok. "I'm glad you're ok. You are ok, aren't you?"

"Yes, I'm fine. Thanks to you. You were very brave." Wong said, immensely proud of him.

"I thought you said it was stupid?" He pointed out.

"That too but also very brave." His mother added with a smile.

"This place belonged to your father. It was built many years ago, you will be safe here." Wong told him.

"Sanctum Sanctorum? I don't suppose that's in New York?" Will asked.

"Manhattan, actually. 117A Bleeker Street in Greenwich village to be precise." Wong corrected him.

"Seriously?" Will walked over to the window and saw New York taxis driving by, New Yorkers walking down the sidewalk and various stores lining the street. "Huh, Greenwich village. Ok, hold the phone. I have a million things going through my head but first off: what the hell happened last night?"

"Something we've feared to happen for sixteen years on the day you were born." Wong told him. "There are many things you will learn in the coming days but first things first…you are special, Will. More special than you and everyone else realize."

"How special can I be?" Will asked.

"Very special, Will." Christine assured him. "You, like your father are so, so special in ways that other people would look down on."

"In some cultures, what we can do can be perceived as God-given or blessed while in others as a form of sacrilege or insult to God but nevertheless it is a gift: Magic." Wong told him.

"Magic?" Will thought his uncle was a few bottles short of a six-pack when he remembered what happened last night. That creepy cult, the demon, and his uncle…he wasn't sure what to call it before, but now he had a name for it. "Magic is real? And not the Chris Angel sleight of hand stuff more of the Lord of the Rings, DC Comics Dr. Fate kind?"

"Yes. Magic is the art of harnessing energies from various places and manipulating them in this plane of existence. Your father was one of them." Wong told him and that bombshell threw him for a loop.

"I'm gonna need to sit down for a second." Will sat on the floor to try and take everything in.

"Let's move to the kitchen. Breakfast is waiting and we can talk more there." His mom said as she helped him get up.

The kitchen was massive and fancy, the kind you would get at a fancy manor or hotel. Will, Christine, and Wong sat down at a table and ate some food. They were waiting for Will to be ready before going into further detail.

"Ok…" Will finished his glass of orange juice. "I'm think I'm ready to hear more. Starting with…who were those people who attacked me?"

"Followers of the Church of the Night. Witches and Warlocks who follow the dark arts. To explain who they are is to explain the nature of magic. Like everything in the universe there is a balance. The sun and the moon, good and evil, light and dark. Magic is no exception. Witches and warlocks from the Church of the Night are born with the power to use magic naturally with enough training." Wong explained.

"Witches…so like the Salem witch trials weren't just persecution of women by overly zealous and racist pilgrims?" He asked and Wong nodded.

"No but witch hunters hunting down witches who had hurt and killed dozens of people. The origins of witchcraft are too old for me to know the truth but witches and warlocks like the ones who attacked us three nights ago are devoted servants of the Dark Lord, Satan." Wong said and that made Will freeze.

"Satan as in…Satan?" Will asked, holding up his fingers to make mock devil horns. "Lucifer, fallen angel…the devil?"

"Yes." Wong said with a straight face. "But don't worry. The Dark Lord was banished to rule hell and is incapable of walking the mortal plane. While he is able to grant those who sign his name in the Book of the Beast with the power to draw on darker magic and be summoned in the astral plane to communicate with, he cannot physically walk the earth."

"Ok so the Devil is still in hell, good. That's good." Will breathed a sigh of relief. "Ok, evil witches and warlocks, Salem witches…uh, devil in hell. What does this have to do with my father?"

"He was once one of them." Wong explained but stopped Will from freaking out. "But never signed his name in the Book of the Beast. Your father was an orphan and taken in by the Church of the Night because they found him to be a natural user of magic. They took him in, trained him and when he was your age, he was offered the chance to sign the Book of the Beast and devote himself to the Dark Lord, but he didn't and ran, taking the path of the light. Ran as far as he could because he saw the horrors of what he would be subjecting his life to if he did."

"Your father ran all the way to New York City where he was taken in by a foster family. He managed to live a pretty normal life which was possible because he took the path of light." Christine said.

"Why does that matter?" Will asked.

"That path of light is another word for choosing to remain mortal. When a witch or warlock promises themselves to the dark arts, they are granted long life and enhanced magic but choosing to remain mortal, he lost the ability to use magic." Wong explained.

"He lived a normal life and was an amazing man. I met him when we were first years at our first hospital shift. He was an amazing doctor and neurosurgeon but…could be challenging to people. He was a bit of a control freak but was an amazing man and he would have loved you." Christine said, smiling at the fond memories. "Your father was always unique and that also applied his magic as well."

"I thought you said because he was mortal, he couldn't use magic." Will pointed out.

"Which should be the case, but your father still had a lingering ability to draw on magic. It shouldn't have been possible but your father's presence with magic wasn't shut off by the Dark lord. He figured that out when we were getting serious and he told me about his past and inadvertently levitated a chair." His mother told him. "I thought he was crazy until we both found out what was happening by the Ancient One."

"The Ancient One?" Will was beyond confused at this point was but at least following everything.

"As I said before there is a balance in the universe. Good and evil and that applies to good magic and evil magic. When Lilith became the first witch and began corrupting numerous others to follow her path, the Sorcerer Supreme was born and granted knowledge of the mystic arts to keep earth and humanity safe from mystical threats. One of them being the Dark Lord and his legions of Followers." Wong explained. "The Ancient One was the previous Sorcerer Supreme and found your father because his unique situation. To be able to retain his magical abilities after taking the path of the light has never happened. He saw greatness in him and trained him alongside others to follow in his path before taking on the title of Sorcerer Supreme himself."

Will looked out to the hallway to see other people wearing similar robes to Wong walking down the halls with books and other items. "He brought your father here. The Sanctum Sanctorum. It's the hub of sorcerers in this part of the world. This is where they train and live before going out to fight mystical threats. There are other Sanctums around the world that keep people safe from mystical threats." His mother explained.

"How do you know this?" Will asked her.

"He told me. Despite this part of his life we didn't have secrets, he loved me too much for that." She smiled at the thought of her husband.

"Follow me." Wong said, escorting Will and his mother through the Sanctum. Other sorcerers bowed in respect to Wong as he walked by and to Will which was odd. Wong stopped at a hall lined with pictures. "This is the hall of fallen sorcerers. Those that have passed on are memorialized here."

Wong ushered him to the newest one that held the picture of Dr. Stephen Strange, Sorcerer Supreme. This was his first actual look at his father, and he could see the resemblance. His photo seemed to exude an aura of confidence and intelligence while the grey hair indicated his age, but he still looked young and handsome. "I remember that day. Your father was gifted his first relic and had his photo taken. It was after our honeymoon." His mother told him.

"You still married dad even after the whole magic thing?" Will asked.

"Of course. I loved him and he loved me. Was it easy? No, it wasn't but we made it work. He trained in the mystic arts and I trained in the medical ones." Christine told him, looking at her wedding ring. "If anything, it made sure there wasn't a dull moment."

"How'd he die?" Will asked.

"We're…still not sure." Wong told him which drew a confused look from Will. "As far as we know…we don't know how he died. We never found his body."

"What happened?" Will wanted to know what happened to his father.

"It occurred on the night you were born and received your unique birthmark." Wong explained as Will opened his shirt collar to see his birthmark over his heart. He's had it his entire life and always wondered how his birthmark was this intricate. It was nestled over his heart and was of a sun, a moon, and three stars. "That is more than a birthmark but a blessing from the Vishanti. The night you were born was a special night in all of history and was foretold by your father's predecessor. A young sorcerer would be born with the potential to surpass all…even face the Dark Lord. When the sun and moon share the sky with three gods from above led by Orion, he will be born with the potential to do wonders."

"The night you were born was very special because you were born on the night of a rare Syzygy alignment to a blue lunar eclipse." Christine told him.

"Well a Syzygy alignment during an eclipse is normal. The sun, earth and moon are aligned during the eclipse and that's common whenever something like that occurs." Will pointed out, familiar with the astrological phenomena. A Syzygy is when three or more celestial bodies form a straight-line which during an eclipse is perfectly normal.

"Except the Syzygy in question was not just the earth, moon, and sun but Jupiter, Venus, and Mercury along with the stars of Orion's belt. The constellation of the Three Kings led to Jupiter, Venus, and Mercury which led to a blue lunar eclipse…right above the hospital ward you were born." Wong told him.

"Wait, two Syzygy formations and a blue lunar eclipse? That's astronomically impossible." Will told him.

"Not impossible to the Vishanti who deemed you worthy of a mighty blessing. Your father realized that you were the child in question from the Ancient One's prophecy and the followers of the Dark Lord would do whatever they could to kill you or worse. So, he formed a protective charm on you and your mother and tasked me with protecting you both while he dealt with them. They followed your father into Canada, thinking you were with him while you were safe in Riverdale. We never heard from him after that and we never found his body." Wong explained.

"He's dead…because of me?" Will asked.

"It's not your fault, Will." Christine told him.

"I know it's not. It's those witches and warlocks who killed him." He said in anger. "Is that why they wanted to kill me? Because I'm such a big threat? But why wait till now? Why not when I was a baby?"

"Because of the protective charm your father placed on you. It kept your latent magic potential hidden and acted as a cloaking barrier for anyone looking for you but only lasted until your sixteenth birthday." Christine explained.

"Why on my sixteenth birthday?" He wondered.

"Besides the significance it held to your father, he predicted that when you were sixteen your growing magic reserve would become too much for the charm to handle." Wong replied.

"So that's why Father Blackwood came after me on my way home. He could sense me. But what about here?" Will asked, gesturing to the Sanctum.

"The Sanctum is built upon ancient pagan and Native American ritual sites and is one of the places where the supernatural magic of the universe converges. A nexus of sorts. That and the plethora of defensive charms, ruins, and rituals performed on the building by previous Sorcerer Supremes is enough to shield you. Once you learn to control and use magic, you'll be able to mask your signature. I'll be helping you with that among other things." Wong told him.

"That's what the trip was about, isn't it? If those crazy witches and warlocks didn't intervene…you were going to tell me the truth." He surmised. Christine took a big sigh before taking her son's hand and sat him down on a couch.

"I know this is a lot for you to process now, Will. Believe me, I've been dreading this day for years. Being told that your little baby boy would become a powerful sorcerer and protect the world is something that no mother wants to hear. Even now when I look at you, I still see my baby boy who cried when I dropped him off for his first day of Kindergarten." She said, shedding a small tear while Will got both emotional and embarrassed. "A mother wants nothing more for her child then to be able to live a happy and normal life as they choose and I'm sorry I can't give that to you."

"Mom, it's not your fault and I don't blame you or dad at all. You gave me an amazing childhood and I'm happy. This whole thing still seems crazy to me and if you had told me this the day before my birthday, I would have thought you were insane but…seeing is believing." Will smiled at his mother who smiled back before looking at Wong. "They'll come after me again, won't they?"

"They will. They see you as their Dark Lord's ultimate enemy. The only one who can stop him." Wong regretfully told him.

"Last night we got away but barely. I don't understand this magic thing or what happened that made me pass out but…if I'm going to have a shot at even trying a normal life or living past another day then I need to be ready." Will stilled himself before getting back to his feet and putting the eye of Agamotto around his neck. "I'm ready to learn magic."

"I was hoping you would say that. Let your training begin." Wong said with a smile.

Wong got him a pair of red training robes like the one he was wearing and sat him down in one of the private training rooms. The two were sitting across from one another for his first sorcery lesson. "The language of the Mystic Arts is as old as civilization. The sorcerers of antiquity called the use of this language spells but if you need another word to understand it, think of it as a program, the source code that shapes reality as we see it. Sorcerers are able to harness energy drawn from other planes of existence to cast spells, to conjure shields, and weapons, to make magic!" Wong explained while performing a basic Eldritch magic spell seal. Like the shield Will saw when they fought that demon, it was composed of yellow/orange light energy that became tangible. It sparked with fiery energy like it was alive and gave off light and warmth. Wong weaved his hands together and around, touching the magical energy and created an Eldritch seal.

"Whoa." Will was amazed at what he saw. If you didn't see it with your own eyes you would never believe it. "How are you able to do that?"

"Magic wielders are able to draw on energy to perform magic. Anyone born with the ability to use magic draws on their own personal energy. Some would call it the soul or life force, a sorcerer or witch can use this energy to cast spells or enchantments but is limited in its use. Since it relies on the user, using too much of this energy is fatal so we train to control it and strengthen it. Another source of energy for magic is the energy from the universe. Witches and Warlocks from the Church of the Night call upon dark and tainted sources of energy such as the Dark Lord and evil tomes. By signing their name in the Book of the Beast, they surrender their soul to him in exchange for an uninterrupted source of dark magic." Wong explained. "Sorcerers, such as your father and I are able to draw on the natural magic from around us and channel it into the physical world as you just saw but there is a third and only the Sorcerer Supreme can use it…and you. Divine dimensional energy is bestowed upon a sorcerer giving them an unparalleled source of pure magic. Mystical entities beyond our understanding lend their energy to the Sorcerer Supreme and endow him with power no normal magic user can use. One such entity is Agamotto." Wong explained as Will looked down at the Eye.

"I remember calling on his name when that demon attacked. I felt so much energy and then I passed out." Will remembered.

"As I said you were blessed when you were born by the Vishanti, the three mystical entities that lend their power to the Sorcerer Supreme. That birthmark is their blessing and signifies you as their chosen oracle and herald for the mortal plane against evil. Agamotto the all-seeing, Oshtur the Omnipotent, and Hoggoth, Lord of Hosts grant you the ability to draw on them directly for immense power along with an incredible personal reserve of energy in your body, more so than any sorcerer living. But your body is not yet trained to harness that energy." Wong told him.

"Which resulted in me passing out." Will finished the sentence.

"Think of magic as a flowing river and a sorcerer, witch, or warlock as a vessel. Too much water and the vessel can burst. If anyone else had been in your situation, the overflow of magic would have killed them." Wong warned him.

"Wow, lady luck loves me or in this case, the Vishanti. So, how can I prevent that from happening again?" Will asked.

"Study and practice. A lot of study and practice." Wong snapped his fingers and four books landed in Will's lap. "The Book of the Invisible Sun, Astronomia Nova, Codex Imperium, and the Key of Solomon. Beginner books that your father and I studied when we first started and now you."

"Just when I thought I was getting away from studying for the summer." Will said picking up one of the books. Wong got up and walked over to the table to get some tea when Will wanted to know something. "Uncle…how did you know my father? I mean, you've been protecting me my whole life and you know my mother so well so…how did you know him?"

"I met Stephen when I transferred to the Sanctum for additional training. Your father had just begun his training and I was working as keeper for all magical knowledge. Your father was…unique. He was driven, confident, eager to learn and master everything but also was also reckless, arrogant, and sure of himself. Someone your mother would call…a jackass." Wong said which made Will chuckle.

"Sounds like he was a handful." He replied.

"He was but was also a good friend. He saved my life more than once. Over time, he became a true friend. Once he realized the danger you and your mother were in, he made me promise to watch over you and protect you until you were ready to start your training." Wong added.

"Thank you, Uncle." Will said with a smile and Wong smiled back. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have homework to do."

Line Break xxxxx

A month later…

Manhattan, New York City: July 30th, 2017

The scorching blaze of a summer heat wave hit New York City in the morning with a vengeance as everyone did their best to stay indoors as much as possible to avoid the sun and heat. For the past week, the temperature was hotter than usual which made being outside a chore and just unwanted but luckily it was the last day of the heat wave and things would hopefully get cooler. Dr. Christine Palmer was walking down the street with some bags of groceries and was returning to the Sanctum Sanctorum. You would think being out in the heat would be horrible, but Wong had given her a cooling charm that protected her from the heat. She walked into the Sanctum and smiled at some passing students before heading into the kitchen and began unpacking. She put a carton of milk in the fridge when Wong entered the kitchen.

"How was the trip into the city?" Wong asked.

"Perfect thanks to your cooling charm. It was like a beautiful spring day." She replied, taking out a small bag and handing it to him. "There you go. Toasted Poppy Seed bagel with lox, cream cheese, tomato, onion, and capers."

"Thank you very much." Wong happily received the bagel and took a big bite.

"Where's Will? I got him a sausage, egg, and cheese roll. Not exactly a healthy breakfast but he's more than earned it the past month." She commented, putting the bag on the counter while she put other stuff away.

"Where he has been every morning for the past month. In the meditation room." Wong replied and she nodded.

"You'd think that he'd take one morning off after starting his training but no. He practices his spells, techniques, and fight training during the day while he astral projects and reads every single spell book, tomes, and history scroll in the library at night. He's running himself ragged." She said in worry.

"Not necessarily. Sure, it seems like he's been training at all times for the past month but technically his body and mind get the rest they do even if he astral projects in his sleep." Wong corrected her.

"Oh, you know what I mean, Wong. He's doing too much." She told him.

"I share the same concerns and thought that he would have burned himself out by not but…he's been getting stronger. In all my years and all the sorcerers I've seen, I've never seen one excel this quickly." Wong said, genuinely impressed with his progress. "Despite the fact that he's only been training for a month, his mastery over his magic is easily equal to that of my top pupils who have been training for over a decade."

"He always was a fast learner but I've never expecting him to pick it up this quickly." Christine told him. "I mean, even Stephen being the Sorcerer Supreme spent over a decade of training before he earned the title."

"Well he's his father's son. And the blessing of the Vishanti might have done things to speed up his training." Wong suggested.

"Could he defend himself now if necessary?" She asked and Wong took a moment to think it over in his head.

"During our training spars together he's shown a tremendous amount of comfortability and mastery of his father's more advance spells and he's already mastered the Eldritch magic of combat. He's young and his youth gives him a degree of ingenuity that more seasoned witches can't anticipate and it's something he has to his advantage. His large pool of natural magic energy means he can outlast most witches before needing to draw on other forms of energy. He's more than capable of holding his own in a fight against Father Blackwood but training for a fight and actually being in on are two separate things." Wong told her.

"But do you think he'd be ready?" She asked again.

"I can only hope so but that's up to him." Wong replied.

In a meditation room on the third floor of the Sanctum, Will was in the middle of a special training session to finish mastery of another of his father's personally made defense spells, the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak. His father's own adaptation on a binding spell by combining his own personal energy with that of the Vishanti, he would create bands of magical energy that were supposed to be unbreakable like the ancient god Cyttorak's will. He was sitting on the ground, meditating as he always did and controlling his magic while his target was across the room from him. It was an elemental golem. Tall and lumbering at over eight feet tall and had to weigh over a ton. It was compromised of a wood and earth body, a massive arm of fire, an equally massive arm of water, a colossal head of ice with glowing eyes and crown of wind above the head. The golem was standing there, frozen like a robot until it was given a command.

Will finished his meditation and stood up onto his feet to show the dramatic change that his body underwent the past month. Being blessed by the Vishanti and training in the magic arts not only strengthened his mind and made him smarter but helped to turn his body into a weapon…or made it so he went through puberty the right way. Will's grown into a 6-foot-tall, lean muscled coordinated fighter without the need for his corrective lenses. According to Wong, the plethora of latent magic that began circulating his body on his sixteenth birthday had some benevolent side effects like fixing his vision and helping improve his body's healing ability along with improving its conditioning. Even though he's only been training with Wong and the other sorcerers for a month, his body was that of a seasoned soccer athlete. Toned and muscled in the right ways without being overdone. It was a nice change of pace and he had cut his hair a bit, so it was like a complete physical transformation, but he was still the same person.

Wong had trained him in the past month in various aspects of the mystical arts for both offensive matters like elemental control, energy beams, weapon creation, and even telekinesis to defensive spells like Tao Mandalas shields, illusions, conjuring, duplication, protection spells, transmutation, and dozens of other uses. He was becoming quite gifted in the mystic arts to the point where he mastered the basics within two weeks and switched to working on the more advance arts like teleportation, weather manipulation and dimensional warping. He also learned how to physically defend himself, learning various martial arts like Judo and karate. He had come a long way since he was the small nerd from Riverdale.

"Ok, time to see if this works." Will crossed his arms and then flexed them out, creating Eldritch magic seals on his wrists and forearms. "Begin!"

The Golem's eyes lit up and roared before spewing out a torrent of fire from its fire hand, but Will summoned a Tao Mandalas shield to protect him. Having trained and strengthened himself over the past month, his shield held strong. He pushed back and summoned another shield to his defense before sending them both out and pushing the Golem back. It staggered before blowing out a stream of ice that Will avoided by rolling to the side. He created several more Tao Mandalas and threw them out to create platforms for him to jump on. A torrent of ice would have frozen him in place had he not jumped out of the way and began jumping around like Super Mario on the platforms he made.

The Golem swung his arms around and around to try and hit him but was too slow and Will had gotten faster. He flipped and jumped around like a gymnast before landing on the ground just as the Golem unleashed a tidal wave of water. The tidal wave of water was stopped millimeters from Will's face with magical telekinesis. He pushed back the wave of water before summoning a ball of blue fire in his other hand. "Time for a little diversion." The smoldering mystical fire met the water and instantly filled the room with steam which did wonders for Will's skin. The Golem glanced around, trying to find him before the wind crown on its head sucked away all the steam to reveal Will standing there with his outstretched right palm glowing red. "Time to get bound!"

Several solid beams of red energy whipped out from his palm and wrapped around the large monster like bands of rope. They wrapped around the Golem's arms, legs, body, and head before Will tightened his hand into a fist and the bands constricted. The Golem did its best to lash out and try to move. It was insanely strong and required a lot of Will's concentration to make sure the spell didn't waver or else the bands would break. After about a minute of thrashing and moving, the Golem managed to yank one of its legs free from the bands of Cyttorak which started a chain reaction of the other bands losing their strength as Will's focus faltered. It yanked the bands around which ended up throwing Will across the room like he was a ragdoll. He hit the ground with a loud thud and the Golem completely broke free and stalked over to him, ready to stomp his head into goo.

"Stop." Will commanded and the Golem froze in its tracks, allowing him to get back to his feet and crack his back. "Almost had it that time. Maybe there's something I missed?"

"I don't think that's the issue." He heard and saw Wong walk in.

"What's the problem then?" Will waved his hand and the golem vanished.

"The Crimson Bands of Cyttorak don't just require concentration but peace of mind and serenity along with one's determination and drive. From what your father said about the spell, you must be as willful and unwavering as Cyttorak himself to ensure the bands don't break." Wong informed him which Will took to heart. "But still, very impressive work. Restraining a Golem is no easy feat, especially an elemental one such as that so it shows how close you are to mastering the spell."

"Thanks." Will took a deep breath and was ready to begin again when his stomach growled. "I think I'll continue after breakfast."

"Good idea." Wong told him as Will went to the kitchen and ate the breakfast sandwich his mom got him. He happily munched on his sandwich while the Imperium of Dimensional warping and applied use was hovering next to him so he could read it while he ate. His mother walked in after going to the bathroom and once she saw him studying while he was eating, she had it.

"Ok, that's enough of that." She walked over, took his book, and closed it before putting it on the table. "Will, we need to talk?"

"About what?" he asked, finishing his sandwich and orange juice.

"I think you're spending too much time studying." She bluntly told him.

"I'm sorry?" he was confused about this whole thing and wasn't sure how to respond.

"I mean, I think you've been spending too much time training here at the Sanctum." She corrected herself. "I'm more than happy that you've taken to the whole sorcery thing and are progressing so quickly but I'm a little concerned that it's become your entire life now. I mean, you train all day long and then when you go to sleep you just astral project so you can study and read the books in the library."

"There are only so many hours in a day mom and as a sorcerer I can take full advantage of that. Besides, I'm still getting the rest I need even if I astral project since it's my soul. Instead of dreams I study, and the information stays in my head so I'm resting while learning. I'm sure there are hundreds of people in colleges and universities all over the world who would love it if they could astral project besides the educational benefits." He pointed out.

"What I mean to say is why don't you just take the night off and get regular sleep or sleep in for a bit and relax so you can watch TV or play video games." She told him.

"Let me see if I understand this: you're a little mad at me because I've been spending too much time studying and not enough time relaxing?" Will asked, wondering if it was opposite day.

"Yes, ok." She sat down at the table next to her son. "I'm glad you're embracing this part of who you are but don't let it take you over completely. Your father enjoyed the regular normal aspects of life just as he did the mystical. Why don't you just take a day off and head into the city to relax?"

"You'd seriously be ok with sending your 16-year old son out to Manhattan all by himself during summer in one of the most populated cities in the entire world?" he asked for clarification.

"I trust you and I know you can defend yourself should something happen." She corrected him.

"I'd be lying if I didn't say that getting some fresh air and walking around the city would be fun. The only time I've had to feel…normal is when I talk to my friends back in Riverdale. I'm still upset that I missed Jason's funeral." Will told her.

"And the reason you couldn't go is because you're still having a hard time masking your magical energy so the followers of the Church of the Night won't find you again." She added and he nodded.

"Yeah, if I went then they would have come after me again and possibly hurt my friends." He replied.

"You're still having no luck in masking all of it so you appear human?" She asked.

"Well, normal is the better term since I'm technically human even if I'm a sorcerer in training and I've almost got it down. Like say…to 75% of the way there." He said when he remembered reading something. "But I might be able to find a work around."

Christine noticed the look on her son's face and knew he had something. "Oh, that's your idea face. What is it?"

"Give me a few hours." He grabbed his book and left the kitchen.

"Hey, how many times have I told you— "Christine stopped herself when she saw the dishes float over to the sink and clean themselves. "…never mind!"

Two hours later….

Will walked down the stairs from the second floor dressed for regular clothes for the first time in a month. He was wearing sneakers, dark blue jeans, a form fitting blue t-shirt, with a black button-up over it and the Eye of Agamotto still over his neck. Christine and Wong saw him walk down the stairs, dressed like he was heading out into the city.

"Wow, I don't think I've seen you wear regular clothes in a long time." She said.

"That's true. I love the training clothes and all, but god did I miss jeans." Will admitted.

"So, your mother said you might have found a way to mask your magical signature?" Wong asked.

"That she did and that I did. I've managed to figure out how to mask over 75% of my overwhelming magical energy so I'm not a direct light house to anyone looking and as for the remaining 25%, the answer I've been looking for is around my neck." He gestured to the Eye of Agamotto.

"The Eye?" Wong was a bit confused.

"The Eye of Agamotto is no longer just an amazing relic of gold that protects me from harm, lets me see through disguises, illusions, track evil spirits, ward off evil spirits and banish demons but now is imbued with a powerful cloaking charm that shields its and my magical signature. The cloaking charm works in conjunction with the Eye's shield properties so if I'm wearing it, it'll produce a shield that not only protects me from supernatural harm but masks my magic. I could conjure up King Kong and have him dangle off the Empire State Building and the Eye will mask my magic signature so no one can detect me. To the followers of the Church of the Night, I'm just another mortal and no dark spell they have can find me. Plus, with a little metamorphism spell…" Will waved his hand around the eye and the large gold relic was now a small silver-dollar size charm on a necklace. "…I'm just a normal teenager."

"Ingenuity that would make your father proud. You never stop ceasing to amaze me." Wong admitted.

"And I thank you for the compliment. I'll see you later." Will walked over to the door, ready to head outside.

"Wait, do you need any money?" She asked, getting her wallet out.

"Don't worry…" he waved his hand and conjured up a roll of twenties. "…I'm set."

"I was afraid he'd learn that spell." She said in worry. "Stephen went on a spending spree when he learned to conjure up money and how to turn a rock into solid gold. Granted I helped when he learned he could do that. Nearly bought out all the stores in Milan after that discovery."

"The attachment to the material is a detachment from the spiritual." Wong wisely proverbs like a sage.

"Attachment to the material like that I-Pad and television you love so much?" She sarcastically asked only for Wong to quickly walk away. Will walked of the Sanctum and took in a nice, deep breath…which was a mistake. [Cough-cough]

He covered his mouth from the dust cloud of the nearby construction crew that were doing some work on the sidewalk. "Probably shouldn't have breathed in like that until I checked around."

He began his trip into the city and made his way up Fifth Avenue, walking past tourists or New Yorkers who were on their way to wherever they were going. He stopped at an ice-cream shop and got himself a milkshake before continuing his walk. He browsed street vendors, got himself a hot dog and did some window looking. Over an hour of walking around and relaxing and he actually found himself near Central Park of all places. He decided to continue walking and explored Grand Army Plaza and despite the plethora of tourists, it was nice.

"Excuse me?" He heard and turned to see a happy young couple and judging by the matching rings and their facial expressions, most likely a recently married couple on their honeymoon. "Can you take a picture of my Wife and I near the fountain?"

"Sure thing." Will took the phone while the couple got in front of the fountain and smiled. "Ok, three…two…one…cheese!" They smiled as he took three photos just to be safe. "There you go. They came out great." He handed the husband his phone so they could look it over.

"Thank you so much." He replied.

"It was my pleasure. Enjoy the rest of your honeymoon!" Will told them as he walked away.

"How did you know we just got married?" she asked causing him to chuckle.

"Lucky guess." Will replied, walking past a girl his age. Will noticed her walk by and she was very pretty and nicely dressed, like someone who came from money and probably spent a lot of time around rich people. She was wearing a brown/burgundy dress, matching heels, earrings, and a pearl necklace. She had her purse around her arms and sunglasses on, doing her best to keep moving when all of a sudden, she was surrounded by paparazzi that began hassling her and taking photos.

"MISS LODGE! OVER HERE!

VERONICA!

ANY COMMENT ON YOUR FATHER BEING IN PRISON!

WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY TO THE FAMILIES WHO HAVE BEEN AFFECTED?!"

All of them shouted as she did her best to try and get away, but they were vultures. Based on her facial expression she wasn't happy at all and Will felt bad for her. He had to do something, so he looked around to make sure no one was looking at him and they weren't since they had their attention drawn to the crowd of paparazzi. He let out a small fake cough and flexed his fingers before making a few hand seals to conjure an illusion.

"OH MY GOD! LOOK, IT'S TAYLOR SWIFT!" Will ran up to the group and pointed at the Taylor Swift illusion that was over by the street waiting for her car. It wasn't long before the paparazzi and everyone else saw the illusion and rushed over so while they were distracted, he ushered the girl to follow him. "Follow me!"

She did and they ran into Central Park while everyone else was focused on the illusion. Before any of them could get close the illusion got into an illusion car and drove away before disappearing after a few blocks to the confusion of a few cabbies. Will and the girl ran for a while before stopping at a large tree that was providing some necessary shade from the sun. She hid behind the tree while he peaked back and saw the paparazzi were otherwise occupied.

"Whew, ok I think we're good for now." He told her.

"Oh my god, I can't thank you enough for that." She told him, getting a good look at her savior and he was cute.

"Don't mention it. I was more than happy to help after I saw them hassling you like that. Paparazzi and news reporters have zero manners." Will joked.

"That they do." She replied. "Did you really see Taylor Swift because the last time I checked her twitter she was in Los Angeles?"

"No, but they thought I did. Honestly, it was the first famous person I thought of. Maybe next time I can say I saw Shawn Mendes or Camila Cabello? Maybe that will do better next time but I'm hopeful there isn't one." He joked which made her laugh. "Ah, nothing's better after a stressful situation then laughter. Happy I could help with that. So, who's the famous celebrity I had the honor of helping?"

"I'm not a celebrity and I'm not exactly famous." She told him. "Besides, if you knew who I was then you'd probably be a lot less happy of helping me."

"I highly doubt that, Veronica." He said, making her go wide-eyed. "They shouted that along with Lodge, so I deduced I'm talking to Veronica Lodge. Pleasure to meet you and allow me to introduce myself as William Arcani Strange but please call me Will."

"Arcani? Sorry but that's a strange name." She said to him.

"So is Strange but I like it." He joked. "It's derived from a Native American word and means Destined for Greatness. In this case, helping someone who needed it."

"Thank you, Will but you've done your knight in shining armor duty for the day. You don't need to keep pretending to be nice." She told him.

"Ok…I'm kind of confused here. Is this one of those things where you say you didn't need my help and are offended I did what I did because if it is, I'm sorry?" He replied, not sure why she said what she said which confused her.

"Hang on, do you not know who I am?" she asked.

"Well, I know your name is Veronica Lodge but that's about it." He replied. "Are you some kind of secret princess and I should be kneeling right about now because if I should I will?"

That made Veronica laugh and based on how he was talking and the look on his face he didn't seem to know she was. "Have you been under a rock the past month?"

"Um…not a rock per say but I've…been kind of out of the loop the last month or so." He admitted. "Look, Veronica whatever reaction you're worried I'm gonna have about you I promise I won't. Call me odd or weird but I tend to not have preconceived judgements on people before I even talk to them and despite this conversation being a little odd and one-sided in my favor, I don't have any negative things to say right now."

"I was not expecting this at all or for anyone to say that to me." Veronica admitted.

"Well, I like to believe I'm unique in that sort of way so lucky you I guess." He joked which made her chuckle. "You look like you've been through a lot and could use someone to talk to."

"You have no idea." She replied.

"Well, I've been known to be a good listener and conversationalist so how about some lemonade and for someone to listen?" he offered and despite them just meeting, Veronica could tell he was a really nice guy.

"Lemonade sounds great right about now." She replied. They walked to a nearby vendor and Will paid for two drinks before they sat down on an isolated park bench a bit away from the crowd of tourists where they could talk. "A part of me is still concerned about having drinks and talking to someone I just met."

"Well it's lemonade so you don't have to look too much into it." He joked as they sat down. "And I thought you said I was your knight in shining armor a few minutes ago?"

"The point still stands but I'm surprised that I'm still here. Don't get me wrong you're cute and have been nothing but kind and funny but we just met. And… yet I feel so easy talking to you." She admitted.

"I just have one of those personalities." He admitted. "And if it helps you to be more at ease, I can tell some embarrassing stories about myself so we feel like we know each other more? How about I tell you about time I actually managed to get stuffed into my own locker at my high school?"

"You actually stuffed yourself into your locker?" Veronica nearly spit her lemonade out and laughed.

"More like someone stuffed me into it. The most un-fun ten minutes of my life." He admitted.

"How? I mean, is this a giant size industrial school locker?" She asked for clarification.

"No, I was shorter then. I recently went through a sort of growth spurt the past few months." Will told her.

"Oh, well then lucky you." She said with a smile.

"Lucky me. So, is that enough or do you want the one where I had a panic attack during the second-grade play in front of everyone?" He suggested.

"You don't need to tell me anymore, but I am curious." Veronica sipped her drink as Will told the story.

"Well, it was the school's play of Peter Pan and during my part of the play I had the big final finish of one of the dance numbers, granted I can't really dance but I did pretty well for the second grade." He joked causing her to laugh. "So, the play goes on without any problems until we get to my dance section and the second the spotlight hits me…I froze."

"Oh no." Veronica said.

"Oh yeah. I froze, I couldn't remember any of my lines or dance steps, and it was like my mind went blank." He said as Veronica chuckled a bit.

"So, what did you do?" She asked.

"Well, I did the only thing I could do. I broke out into the Macarena and I ran off stage crying." He admitted with a straight face while Veronica laughed.

"Oh my god. I was not expecting that story at all. That must have been so embarrassing." She said.

"That it was but I figured that everyone has one or two embarrassing stories. To quote Tyrion Lannister, wear it like armor and it can never be used to hurt you. And they make interesting conversation starters." Will added.

"That they do. I guess I do know you a little more." She said to him. "Thanks again for helping me, Will. It means a lot. I haven't had anyone to rely on the past month."

"I'm sorry, Veronica. That can't be easy. Don't you have any friends?" He asked but she shook her head no.

"Not anymore. Everyone that I could call a friend has pretty much written me off." She replied. Will could tell it was sore subject and she was still recovering from whatever happened.

"Hey, Veronica you don't need to tell me anything. Let's talk about something else. I could think up of another embarrassing story?" Will suggested but she shook her head.

"No, Will it's fine. There's no use running away from it and maybe talking about it…will help." She told him.

"All right, then I'm here to hear it and help however I can." He said.

"Thank you. First things first…those paparazzi were hounding me before because of my father, Hiram Lodge, head of Lodge Industries." Veronica told him.

"I know the name and the company but what happened?"

"Wow, you really were under a rock this past month, weren't you?" She asked only for Will to shrug his shoulders. "My father was convicted of fraud and embezzlement and was soundly arrested. He hurt a lot of people…including me."

"I'm sorry, Veronica." Will felt bad for her. While her father may have done some bad things, it seems like Veronica was bearing the aftereffects and no one deserved that.

"He hurt a lot of people and left me and my mother the target of everyone's anger. All these trolls just came out of nowhere and began writing all of these horrible things about us. We've been getting letters and emails that my dad is a thief, my mom was a clueless socialite and I was this spoiled ice-bitch, rich princess. And what hurts the most about the things they've been saying and writing…are true." She told him.

"No, come on Veronica. That's not true." Will assured her. "Those bloggers are just bullies on the internet literally looking for anyone to project their own inadequacies on and put down because they don't have any respect for themselves. And people are just hurting about what happened but that doesn't mean you should be getting hit with all this."

"That's really sweet of you, Will and as much as I'd like to believe you, I know they're right." She admitted to herself. "Ok, I know the kind of people I was friends with at Spencer High. I know the kind of person I am…and I'm not a nice person. I was a bully. Last year at Spence, my best friend Katy and I terrorized this girl Paige. We were horrible to her, we were class-A brutal bitches for no reason. By December she couldn't take it anymore and transferred schools and needed therapy. As much as I'd like to think my knight in shining armor saved her damsel in distress…it's more like the knight unknowingly saved the wicked witch of the west."

Will saw Veronica was really torn up over this. She really believed everything those people were saying about her and having no one to talk to probably wasn't helping. No one deserves this and Will could tell that Veronica was really ashamed of who she used to be and wanted to change.

"I think you might have mixed up your references but it's ok." He told her. "Look, Veronica…I have no idea what you and your mother have been going through and I'm sorry you've had to bear all of this. It's not fair at all. And even if you think you deserve it or that you're exactly what people think you are, I think that you're not."

"How can you be so sure?" She asked, tears at the edge of her eyes.

"Because if you really were the girl that all those people are demonizing then you wouldn't be here, right now on this park bench with me feeling as you are now." He pointed out. "You're feeling remorse, guilt, and all these feelings which shows me and shows you that you are not that horrible girl you're afraid you are. If you were then you wouldn't feel like you do. And I know we just met, and it won't mean a lot coming from someone who you don't know that well but I don't see a cold-hearted brutal bitch but a girl who's been through a lot and needs a friend."

Veronica smiled and wiped her eyes before giving Will a hug. He smiled and hugged back. "Thank you so much." She whispered.

"No thanks necessary. Comes with the territory of being your knight in shining armor." He replied causing her to chuckle. They separated from the hug as Veronica wiped her eyes. Will handed her a napkin to wipe away the tears.

"Oh my god, I must look like a mess." She said, taking her compact mirror to check herself.

"You don't." He assured her. "Just don't listen to them anymore, Veronica. As corny as it sounds but their words will only hurt if you let them."

"Wear it like armor and it can never be used against you." Veronica replied, using his own quote against him.

"Touché, Ms. Lodge, Touché. But you do have an opportunity here as well. A chance to become a completely new person and forgo all the old labels you were given before. A fresh start how you want it." He said. "It's kind of what I've been doing this past summer."

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"The reason I've been under a rock the past month is because I've been in New York getting some information on my father." Will explained. "I didn't know him at all growing up. He…died/disappeared the day I was born."

"Oh, Will I'm so sorry." Veronica held his hand and intertwined her fingers with his and he smiled.

"It's ok. Growing up I never knew him and on my sixteenth birthday, which was a month ago, my mom and uncle brought me to Manhattan to finally learn the truth. He was a brilliant neurosurgeon, Dr. Stephen Strange. Yes, I know it's an odd name and it seems to run in the family." Will said to her causing her to chuckle. "He was an amazing but arrogant doctor as most of them are, but he did a lot to help people. And unfortunately, that work got him in the crosshairs of a cult."

"What happened?" She asked.

"I honestly don't know but my mom told me that this cult was beyond crazy and targeted my dad with a serial killer like obsession." Will explained, twisting everything since he couldn't tell her his father was a sorcerer who disappeared in a fight against a coven of witches. "Once they found out about my mom and she was pregnant with me they went after us, so he went to the FBI and tried to take them down. He kept me and my mom safe, but he was never seen after that. My mom and uncle finally told me the truth about everything and who he was and brought me in on the search for him. It's kind of why I've been under a rock the past month. I've been busy."

"And? Any luck?" She asked only for Will to shake his head no.

"No. They never found his body and it's more than likely he's dead." He told her. "But I finally know the truth about him and that makes the whole difference. I've kind of spent the past month with my mom and Uncle here in New York so I could get to know the person he was. I'm learning a lot about him and about myself as well. I guess we've both undergone some fundamental shifts this summer."

"That we have." Veronica replied.

"And that means we can also come out stronger for it too. Forget what everyone else says about you because you know, and I know they're not right. The past can hurt, that's for sure. But the way I see it you can either run from it or learn from it. And I know you already have." Will said as Veronica smiled at him. Even though they just met, he made her feel better about this whole thing.

"Thank you, Will. Just hearing someone tell me that makes everything hurt a lot less." Veronica told him.

"Sometimes that's all that matters." Will smiled at her only to for it drop when he looked across the park. "Uh oh."

"What's wrong?" She asked, looking in his direction and saw what he saw: more paparazzi.

"Looks like the vultures are coming back. Come on, let's go." They quickly got off the park bench and ran to the exit. One of the paparazzi spotted them which resulted in a small chase. Will and Veronica ran to one of the entrances to the park and hoped to make a break for it across the street and lose them in the sea of New Yorkers and tourists. Will saw a group of birds pecking at some food on the ground and got an idea.

"Dispergat." He whispered under his breath and the birds on the ground scattered into the air, creating a cloud of tiny birds and feathers that stopped some of the paparazzo from following. He tossed his lemonade onto the ground and turned it into a large ice puddle that caused several of them to trip before they ran across the street and he made the traffic light turn green, so the flurry of cars stopped them from following. Veronica and Will kept running, moving past tourists and other people on the street until they stopped at a corner, both of them laughing from the small amount of fun that was. "Ok, if that's what dealing with paparazzi is like then I pity all celebrities who deal with them on a daily basis."

"Agreed. Although trying to avoid them is going to be a bit harder." Veronica said.

"Well, then you'll need a better disguise. Maybe a fancy hat and better pair of glasses to throw them off." Will suggested.

"I'll take that into consideration. Thank you again, Will." Veronica said with a smile.

"Don't mention it. There's no thanks necessary. Besides, I was out in the city looking for an adventure and I got that along with a new friend." Will told her. "So, if you haven't grown sick of me yet, how about a native New Yorker shows the out-of-towner a place he can get a quick snack?"

Veronica chuckled at his joke before looking at the street signs and took a minute to think of something. "How do you feel about French food?"

"I haven't had a lot of it but I'm open to trying something new. Shall we, Ms., Lodge?" Will held his arm out so she hooked her arm with his before taking him to Epicerie Boulud at the Lincoln Center for some quiche, cheese and some good conversation of a burgeoning friendship. Will got to know her pretty well and while he did see some tendencies of her old rich girl persona, she really wanted to change that. They talked about their families, school life and things like that while avoiding things that would bring the mood down like her father's arrest, her being a mean girl or him being a sorcerer in training who was blessed by a trio of mystical gods, you know normal stuff. She talked about cheerleading and all the travel and events she's been to while he talked about Riverdale and his friends.

After their little lunch she showed him more of the city including her favorite hangout spots and places to eat along with telling him things he had to do. Given he probably had the rest of the summer here in New York at the Sanctum then maybe he could catch a show. All in all, the summer started off weird but was going really well.

Line Break xxxxx

Manhattan, New York: August 11th, 2019

Will was with his uncle in a training room in the middle of yet another spar. An hour of fists, kicks, and throws along with Eldritch seals, weapons, spells, elemental manipulation, and destruction that would have destroyed the room if there wasn't a protective spell woven through the building. Streams of fires were spewing all over the place as Will came into focus, rolling to the side before back flipping away and creating a magical shield. A wave of wind came from Will that blew out the fire and enabled him to close the distance and engage Wong in hand-to-hand combat. Palm strikes, elbows, knees, and various kicks were traded, blocked, or dodged which showed just how far Will had come and how adept at combat he was. Long gone was the short nerd, now he was a fierce sorcerer who you didn't want to mess with.

Will ducked under a punch only to get his feet knocked out from under him by Wong's leg sweep. He tucked his arms in and turned his body into a 720 spin, throwing out an Eldritch spell whip around Wong's left leg and yanking as he spun to the floor which caused the older sorcerer to fall on his back. Wong quickly got back to his feet while Will did a kip up and fired blasts of blue energy using the Bolts of Balthakk spell. Large bolts of mystical blue electrical energy fired from his hands that Wong tried to shield himself from. His Tao Mandala shields held as strong as they could, but the constant barrage of powerful mystical energy was too much and one of the shields eventually shattered giving Will his opportunity. He quickly formed two Tao Mandala shields and threw them at the wall where they quickly bounced off and ricocheted, one hitting Wong in the back while another hit him in the knee and sent him spinning to the ground.

"Discus's got nothing on me." Will said before casting the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak and wrapping Wong up like a present. "I win."

"That you do." Wong replied. The mood was soon interrupted by the sound of a cellphone going off.

"Excuse me." Will ended the spell and released Wong before checking his phone to see it was Veronica calling him. "Hey, Veronica. What's up?"

"Nothing much. I've counted my Hermes purses for the fifth time today which shows how bored I am." She told him in a drone like tone which helped illustrate her boredom.

"I'm sure there are a lot of people out there who wouldn't be bored by Hermes purses. And the reason I know that is because I'm a cultured person and my mother so don't judge me." He jokingly remarked which made her laugh. "And I'm sorry about your boredom. Anything I could do to help? We could sneak into the Natural History Museum and cause some mischief and hopefully not get chased out by security guards again."

That was a fun afternoon. They went to Natural History Museum because Will wanted to go for a long time. Veronica came along and the two spent an afternoon going around the various exhibits. Veronica really only went to the museum for charity events and the old her didn't really care about going but she was taking his advice and trying to be someone different with a fresh start. Granted going to the museum for school or for anyone else would have been beyond boring but Will had a way of making it enjoyable. Besides giving out fun facts, they honestly just acted like kids. They made funny faces and took goofy pictures with the displays, might have touched a few things and they even snuck into the glass display cases with the mannequins and goofed around. That led them to running out of the museum with a security guard chasing after them.

"As much fun as that was, I think it's best if we stick to something not illegal for today. How about this. The Battery Dance Festival is going on in Battery Party City. I normally go with my friends but seeing as how you're my only one at the moment, do you want to go?" Veronica asked.

"Sure, sounds like fun. Wait, is this a giant dance festival in that everyone dances like a party or a festival with performances because I'm not that great of a dancer?" Will asked and he could have sworn he heard her laugh.

"The latter. A whole bunch of dance companies have performances and set up workshops." She informed him.

"Oh, then yeah. Sounds like fun. I'll meet you at the Greenwich subway stop in an hour." Will said.

"Sounds good. I'll text you when I'm close." Veronica replied.

"See you then, Veronica." Will hang up and put his phone away. "Thanks for the spar, Uncle. I'm going to take a shower."

"Excellent work today." Wong said as he left.

Will got showered and dressed in some nice clothes. A pair of nice shoes, blue pants, and a black button-up. All clothes from boutiques that Veronica took him to in the city. Part of the lie that Will told her of him being in the city and his dad was that he left him a trust fund that he finally got access to…which was the wrong thing to say to her. After he told her of his magic trust fund, she took him to various clothing stores and went on a spending spree. One thing he learned about Veronica is that when it comes to shopping, you either do what she says or you see her angry face…and you never want to see her angry face. He conjured up a lot of money that day. His mother was both ashamed that he did that but happy that he spent time with a new friend and got some nice clothes.

He walked down the stairs and into the kitchen to grab a quick snack. A strawberry fig bar and a bottle of water. He finished the bar and guzzled down the water when his mother walked in. "Hey, Wong told me that you're going out again?"

"Yeah, Veronica invited me to the Battery Dance Festival. It seems like fun and before you ask, it's not an actual dance but more of a dance showcase." Will told her.

"Oh, good. No offense, Will but you're not exactly the best dancer." She added.

"Wow, thanks for the vote of confidence, mom. Aren't you supposed to be helping my self-esteem, not putting me down?" He joked, refilling the bottle with his magic.

"So, you and Veronica seem to be getting close." She said.

"Yeah, is that a problem?" Will asked and she quickly shook her head no.

"No, of course not. She seems very nice. You've been really good to her, Will. I can't imagine what her and her mother must be going through. It says a lot about you that you're willing to be her friend after what happened." Christine said, proud of her son.

"Well, I've always been someone who's willing to give a person a second chance." Will replied. "Can't say I've had the honor paid back."

"You mean with Archie and Betty? What happened with those two? You three and Jughead used to be inseparable." She told him.

"I really wish I knew mom but all I've gotten over the years are HI's, hello's, and goodbyes. Don't know why Archie decided to dump his friend but whatever." Will shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, there lost and Veronica's gain. So, should I be expecting to see her a lot more?" She asked with a not so subtle double meaning.

"Ok, what's with the not so subtle innuendo?" He asked.

"I'm just saying, is Veronica you're first girlfriend yet? Have you asked her?" She asked which gave Will something to think about. He liked Veronica a lot over the past month of getting to know her. She was smart, funny, and fierce but vulnerable as well.

"She's great mom but after everything she's been through, I think what she needs right now is a friend, not a boyfriend." Will told her.

"Good, I'm proud of you." Christine walked up and kissed him on the cheek. "But when she is ready…I think you two would be great together."

"Thanks, mom." Will kissed her on the cheek and bid her goodbye.

"I'll be back before midnight!" He shouted, heading out the front door.

He met up with Veronica at the subway stop and the two made their way to the Battery Dance Festival. They saw a whole bunch of amazing performances and had a lot of fun. She even managed to drag him into a swing dance workshop followed by a Latin Dance workshop. He did his best and managed to not step on her feet, but he did look goofy.

"Wow. I am so glad we did this tonight." Veronica said as the two were walking through the festival after the workshops.

"Me too. I'm glad I didn't step on anyone's toes." Will joked.

"So am I. These heels would have gotten scuffed." She joked back.

"Oh good. Looks like you picked up a thing or two on my humor since we've been hanging out. I'm proud." Will mocked clapped his hands which made her punch his arm. "This was a lot of fun, Veronica. Granted, not as much fun as sneaking through the displays at the museum but for legal fun, this was great."

"I'm glad. And it's a good thing this festival is for a few days which gives us that much time to work on your dancing." Veronica said. "Because if we are going to be friends in high school then knowing you can dance without looking like a chicken with its head cut off will put my mind at ease."

"Ok first thing, ouch. That was a little hurtful." Will replied causing her to laugh. "And second, what to do you mean friends in high school?"

Veronica looked at him with a smile. "My mom told me that we're not staying in Manhattan. After everything that my father has done…there's no way we could have a life here."

"Yeah, that makes sense. A fresh start." Will added.

"So, she's having us move to her old town where she grew up. And believe it or not…it's Riverdale." Veronica told him. "We're moving to your neck of the woods."

"Huh. I was honestly not expecting this tonight. Maybe it's fate I saw you that day in the park?" Will suggested.

"I thought you said you didn't believe in fate?" Veronica asked.

"I believe that there is no fate but what we make for ourselves." Will replied. There was a bit of silence between the two as Veronica was thinking.

"Wait, don't tell me…. Robocop?" She answered only for Will to let out a defeated sigh.

"Terminator, Veronica. It's the Terminator. That was an easy one too." Will said, disappointed she didn't get that as the two continued through the festival. "All the work on improving your pop culture knowledge doesn't seem to be doing anything."

"Ok, but to be fair it's been a lot of work." She defended herself.

"Right. Putting that aside for the moment, it's great that you're moving to Riverdale and are friends with the most likeable guy at the school. That will do wonders for you there." Will said.

"I'm still not sure. It's not like Riverdale is the middle of nowhere. They probably know who I am." She pointed out.

"Maybe but being friends with me will show that you're not at all what the tabloids say you are. Everyone there knows I'm the best judge of character and would never be friends with someone if they weren't worth it. Trust me, being at Riverdale high will be different for the better." Will assured her.

"Or they could think that I'm manipulating you and hate me even more for ruining their school's friendliest arm candy?" Veronica pointed out.

"That's…a fair point. Well, in that case, good luck storming the castle." Will told her.

"Oh, I know. Princess Bride." Veronica answered.

"Not bad my young Padawan." Will joked.

"Um…Star Trek?" She said which immediately made Will's smile drop.

"Never mind."

Manhattan, New York: August 20th, 2017

It was the Sunday before the start of the Riverdale school semester. Classes officially started on the 23rd, Wednesday so Will was excited but noticed that his mom and Uncle weren't packed up for the trip back home. He was wearing his training robes and went to see his mom and Wong in the kitchen.

"Mom, can I ask you something?" Will asked as she was busy getting a big pot of tomato sauce ready for dinner.

"Sure. What is it?"

"The school year starts in a few days, but we haven't packed up yet. Are we heading back to Riverdale?" He asked but once he saw the looks on their faces, he had his answer. "We're not, are we?"

"No, Will. We're not going back." She told him. "We're staying here in the Sanctum so you can finish your training."

"But my training is almost done." He said but Wong looked at him funny. "My training is 75% done." Wong again gave him a funny look. "Ok, my training is 50% done but I know more than any of the sorcerers in training here know and they're years older than I am and have been at this longer. Besides, Riverdale is home. My life is there, my friends."

"It's too dangerous to go back." Wong told him. "Father Blackwood and the Witches found you in Riverdale so if you go back then it won't be long before they find you again."

"And if I don't go back then how long before they go after my friends to get to me. I mean, everyone in town knows my face and knows who I am. Hell, I've told Kevin, Jughead, Cheryl, Josie and Ethel I've been in New York. How long do you think they'll be able to keep that a secret while those witches boil them alive or flay them open?" Will asked, upset at the potential harm his friends would endure.

"Will, it's too risky. Look, I understand that you want to go back, so do I. Our lives have been there for the past sixteen years, but you are too important to risk. Greendale is just across Sweetwater River along with an entire coven of witches." Christine told him.

"I can handle the coven. Tell her, Uncle. You and every other Sorcerer here say that I can hold my own against the witches." Will pointed out.

"That may be true, but you've never been in combat before. That's why you'll remain here where I can supervise your training and be with you on your first task in the field." Wong said.

"You could do that in Riverdale, too. We could train in the mirror dimension and you can easily keep an eye on me. Hell, the Eye of Agamotto is charmed to keep me from harm now that it and my magic are fully awakened." Will stressed, not wanting to leave his friends and risk their safety when he could protect them. "Mom come on. I can't just leave them. Besides the fact that all my friends and my entire life is there, running away doesn't seem right."

"And I get that, Will, believe me I do. But you are too important to risk." Christine said, once again. "Your destiny is to do wonders and help the world."

"Yeah, well in this case destiny just sounds like another way of saying I can't choose how my life goes and I refuse to believe that. If I'm destined to help the planet then it'll be on my terms." Will said, walking away. "I make my own fate."

His mother got up to go after him, but Wong stopped her. "Leave him. Give him some alone time."

Manhattan, New York: August 22nd, 2017

Will was dressed in his regular clothes which consisted of sneakers, black jeans, a form fitting blue t-shirt which showed off his new physique with a black button up over that. The Eye of Agamotto was around his neck, altered so it wouldn't stand out. He levitated all his suitcases and belongings down to the foyer by the front door.

"Will, what's going on?" Christine and Wong walked into the foyer to see Will gathering his suitcases.

"We're going home to Riverdale, that's what." He told her.

"Will, believe me I'm really sorry about this but you know we can't. It's too dangerous." She reminded him.

"I know and I get it but that doesn't mean I'm risking my friend's safety because I ran. Besides, I think I have an idea to keep us and Riverdale safe." Will snapped his fingers and a spell tome appeared in his hands. He flipped to the middle of the book and handed it to Wong to show him the page on a protection spell.

"A protection spell?" Christine asked.

"It's a simple spell but if conducted properly then it's pretty much unbreakable." Will told her.

"Will, believe me I understand wanting to go back. After spending sixteen years there…it has grown on me." Wong admitted. "But even this spell might not be enough."

"I know that. Which is why I'm also adding in a few extra spells as well." Will snapped his fingers and three more spell tomes appeared. They hovered in the air and the pages turned to reveal an identification spell, a magnification spell, and a barrier spell. "The protection spell on its own might not be enough, I'll admit it but combining it with these three then it'll make something that not even a demon could bust through."

"I'm confused." His mother admitted.

"The protection spell will be laid out over the entire town of Riverdale from county line to county line and woven so that anything mystical or witch-related can't cross. No demon, hex, or curse can penetrate its wall. It's a strong spell but could be broken unless I interlace it with a barrier spell to protect the weak spots. The barrier spell will help protect the weak points and add defensive measures to the protection spell. Now, if anyone from the Church of the Night tries to cross it, not only will the protection spell blast them but the barrier spell won't let them cross. They could try as they might to break through it which leads us to the magnification spell which will be applied to both the barrier and protection spell. Essentially, it magnifies anything thrown against it, using it to powers up the barrier and protection spell." Will explained.

"So, the more you try to break it the stronger it gets." Christine said.

"Exactly. And as a last touch, the identification spell which will let me and us know what is trying to get through and from where. Once this thing is woven the right way, not even a demon could bust through it." Will finished waiting for a sort of response. "No applause necessary. Only took me two days researching to figure it out."

"I'm extremely impressed. Ingenuity like this is something your father was known for. And I do believe that this might work." Wong said.

"Thanks, Uncle." Will replied. "I'm not running from my destiny or the fight…but I'm human as well as a sorcerer. Best of both worlds and I'm not throwing away my role in either one. I can live my normal life while training for whatever Hell can throw my way. And this way, my friends will be safe if I'm there. Please."

Christine and Wong thought it over. Will's plan was thought out and it could work, not to mention that they had to admit they were a little home sick for Riverdale. But the Church of the Night was just a town over. "Are you sure you can cast a spell as intricate like this?" Wong asked.

"I'm…confident that I can do it with your help, Uncle. I've done small tests that work but something this size and power would be better with at least one sorcerer like you." Will told him. Wong thought it over and smiled at him.

"One Sorcerer might not be able to do this…but two may very well." Wong walked over to the far well and pressed his hand to it, revealing an intricate magical seal. "Will, place your hand on the other side."

Will did as he was told and once he did, the wall came apart to reveal a display case with a large flowing red cloak with wing-like collar ornaments. At first, you'd think it was just a regular cloak, but Will noticed it was moving…like it was alive. "This belonged to your father. It was his own personal relic, the Cloak of Levitation. He left it behind for you when you were ready. I believe you are."

"Cloak of Levitation." Will looked at the cloak and it seemed to mirror him, as if it were looking back at him. Wong opened the display case and the cloak flew out and circled around Will like Aladdin's magic carpet. The collar perked up and moved like it was observing him. "What is it doing?"

"The Cloak has a mind of its own and can be kind of finicky. It's observing you before making its final decision." Wong told him.

"Oh." Will replied. The Cloak perked up before flying around him in a circle and resting on his back. Using the cloak's powers, he was able to levitate off the ground. "Ok, this is cool."

Will flew around the foyer with the cloak bellowing behind him. "Oh my god, I'm Superman!" Will shouted, flying around, and enjoying himself. "Ok, my dad had the coolest relic there is."

The cloak's collar perked up and tapped him on the cheeks as a way of saying thank you. "It suits you." Christine said.

"I think so too. The only problem is that wearing a large cloak will draw some unwanted attention if it's not Halloween." Will said as the Cloak flew off his shoulder to face him. "Would you be ok with a little metamorphosis spell? There's nothing wrong with you at all, trust me. This is just to blend in when I'm with non-magic people."

The Cloak seemed to contemplate the idea before nodding its collar. Will waved his hands and concentrated, using a metamorphosis spell to adjust the appearance of the cloak to something that wouldn't stick out in modern day. The length of the cloak shortened and formed sleeves while the metal collar elongated into a zipper and after a few seconds the Cloak of Levitation turned into a lightweight red bomber jacket. The now jacket of Levitation took a moment to observe its new appearance and judging by the happy nods and expressions of the sleeves it seemed to like it. It spun around Will before slipping through his arms and resting on him. "Nice. I think this suits me. It's only fair that a relic reflects its user."

"Not bad." Christine walked up to him to adjust the collar only for the jacket to pull out her hands and nestle around his neck. "Oh, it's a little touchy."

"It's just being protective. I'm really starting to like this thing and not just because it can make me fly around like Superman." Will said. "All right, let's get this spell set and done."

Wong nodded and summoned two sets of sling rings. Wong put a pair on his left hand and slipped it on his middle and ring finger. Will did the same, putting it on his left hand before using another metamorphosis spell to morph the sling ring from a large gold band around two finger hoops to two small rings with intricate Latin writing on the bands that fit on his left middle and ring finger. "Let's split up first. We'll set up the perimeter markers for the spell around Riverdale and let's cover Sweetwater River as a precaution."

Wong nodded and the two held their sling rings forward while drawing circles in the air with their other and used their magic to create portals back to Riverdale.

Riverdale

Wong opened his portal and went through, ending up in the south side of the town. Will's portal took him to Sweetwater River. The second he stepped through he was filled with both happiness he was back home but dread and sadness that it was at the spot Jason died.

"Rest in peace, Jason." Will prayed before hovering in the air and moving over to the edge of Sweetwater River near the Greendale Border. He stopped just short of the border and began weaving the spell. Summoning Eldritch spell seals on his arms and spell circles on his hands, he cast them out on the ground and on various trees by the border and all over the river that led anywhere to Riverdale. The spell seals printed themselves on the ground, road, trees, and water before they vanished. As Will finished laying out the spell seals, he felt the faint flicker of a death echo in the lake.

A death echo is a ghost captured in the moment of death left behind by the victim that usually occurs in places where a person is killed before their time in a violent or awful manner. Usually only people with magic can sense and see death echoes but normal people can feel something. The odd spine tingling, cold eerie feeling you get when you enter a place something awful happened in, that's a Death Echo. Places like Amityville, the LaLaurie Mansion in New Orleans, the RMS Queen Mary in California, and the Lizzie Borden house in Massachusetts. Those places that are haunted and you get an eerie feeling like you're not alone or that something bad happened, that's the soul's scream of terror that a normal person can feel but magic users can do more. Sorcerers like Will are even capable of viewing the death echo to see what happened. Will was tempted to do it but he didn't want to see Jason's death like this so he quickly flew away to lay down the next set of spell seals on the eastern part of town while Wong would go to the western border.

Once that was finished, Will and Wong teleported back to their old home in Riverdale so they could perform the spell without anyone seeing them. Wong casted an illusion spell on the house along with defense charms against intruders while Will readied the spell tomes.

"Ok, let's do this." Will flexed his arms and pumped himself up.

"Just remember your training. Clear your mind and remain calm." Wong reminded him.

"You know that just by telling me to stay calm I don't actually calm down, right?" Will asked only to shut up after the look Wong gave him. "Right, sorry. Let's get this done."

Will and Wong stood across from one another and concentrated, both taking a deep breath before channeling as much magic energy as they could. They weaved their hands in sequence and formed two large Tao Mandala Eldritch magic seals. The yellow/orange magical energy crackled like fire and electricity in the air and the light it gave off filled the living room. Small ripples of wind and air bellowed out from the spell seals and various items around the living room either shook or levitated, indicating that the spell they were conducting had enough power to begin affecting the surrounding area. The two Tao Mandala seals combined into one larger more complex seal that began glowing and across the borders of town, the various spots the protection seal anchors were placed began glowing as well. If anyone was around at that time, they would have seen a glowing magic seal appear and in fact, Jughead, who was walking down Sweetwater River on his way home noticed a faint glimmer across the water. His curiosity got the better of him, so he took off to see what it was.

Will began weaving an Eldritch hexagon seal, activating the barrier spell anchor points while Wong worked up a pentagon seal that activated the magnifying charm anchor points. Once those two seals were activated, they merged them with the larger seal in the middle making a new more complex one. Said components of the seal began to grind and stiffen indicating that the combining process wasn't working properly. As a result, the room began to shake a bit with the combined magical energy becoming too unstable.

"It's too much!" Will shouted, doing his best to keep it together.

"Concentrate, Will!" Wong told him, quickly weaving in the identification charm as the last component. "Focus!"

"Maybe you were right about this!" Will shouted, feeling the magic becoming too much for him to handle.

"No, you can do this, Will. Let the magic flow through you. You are more powerful than you realize. Draw on the strength and cast the spell!" Wong told him, taking over Will's part of containing the large complex spell seal so it didn't explode and destroy the room…along with everything in a mile radius. "The Vishanti blessed you with more power than you understand. Use it!"

"I don't know how!" Will told him and a magical pulse wave shot out from the seal, making a large crack in the ceiling.

"Calm your mind and concentrate! You'll know what to do!" Wong told him yet again.

"Ok, ok, you can do this." Will took a deep breath and concentrated, calling on the magical energy of the universe and the Vishanti as best he could…granted he still hadn't mastered that. Heck, he was barely a noob with that. The sun, moon, and stars birthmark over his heart began to glow along with the Eye of Agamotto. He stilled himself and began to channel the power of Oshtur. "I summon the power of Oshtur the Omnipotent, mold and combined these spells to form the ultimate protection. Shield this town from those who use dark magic that seek to do it harm!"

Will's hands glowed blue and a blast of magical energy blessed by Oshtur of the Vishanti imbued the seal with its power. The various components of the large, complex seal solidified in place and began moving in synch like the gears of a machine. Everything was in perfect harmony. The seal then exploded out and began enlarging like someone maximized it on a computer. Will and Wong felt the magical energy rush past them as the magic seal expanded from the room and began encompassing the town of Riverdale. If someone were flying above the town in a helicopter, they could have seen a yellow/orange magical seal get bigger and bigger until it encompassed the entire town. The edges of the seal fanned out until they met with the anchor points Will and Wong made, indicating where the spell should stop. Once every single anchor point was connected, the seal glowed one last time before vanishing.

Jughead had taken some photos of the strange glowing symbols that appeared on some trees and the road, but they soon vanished, leaving him confused as to what just happened and if it was real or all in his head. Suffice to say, he wouldn't stop until he got to the bottom of it.

Back at the house, Will and Wong felt the seal activate and vanish. "Did we do it?" Will asked.

"I do believe we did. Excellent work, Will. Your father would be very proud." Wong was very proud of him. "Now, I'll go get your mother and our bags while you…clean up."

Will looked around the room and saw the furniture was destroyed, broken glass and windows along with a large crack in the ceiling. "Right."

He used magic to fix up the ceiling crack and furniture along with fixing the broken windows and picture frames. After that he took his stuff to his room and began unpacking which took all of five seconds with his magic. It was like he never left and the great thing about his magic is that he could head back to the Sanctum any time he needed with the sling ring. He walked downstairs and saw his mom and Wong come out the portal. "Well, mom…" Will waved his hands and used his magic to clean the entire house of dust and dirt so it was sparkly clean. "…home sweet home."

"Home sweet home. New York is great and all but it's good to be back." She said, putting some stuff back into the kitchen.

"Allow me." Will used his magic to put everything back into the kitchen like before along with taking his mother's luggage upstairs to her room. "You know, chores are going to get a lot easier now with magic. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to head out into town and triple check the spell seal to make sure it worked. After that I'll head to Pop's for dinner. How does that sound?"

"Oh, I have been craving a Pop's hamburger for a month. Get me my usual." Christine told him.

"Likewise." Wong added.

"Roger that." Will said, walking over to the door.

"Will, are you forgetting something?" She asked, making him stop. "You're phone perhaps?"

"No, it's in my…" Will pat his pocket and found it wasn't there. "How did you know that?"

"Magic has nothing on mom powers. And if I had to wager a guess, it's probably where it usually is when you can't find it, in your room." She told him.

"Oh, you're good." Will replied, heading up to his room to grab his phone. Before he left, he opened his backpack which had a bunch of gifts he bought for his friends back in Manhattan, so he took Cheryl's present and teleported it over to her bedroom with a cute little card. She could use some cheer. He double checked that he had his phone and his wallet and went into the garage to get his bike but stopped himself.

"You know, this summer was about embracing a new part of himself. I'm still the same old lovable goofball nerd but in sleeker packaging…" He said when he realized he was alone. "…who still talks to himself occasionally. But I've changed a bit as well. Besides the whole Sorcerer thing. Maybe it's time to embrace my supposed magical trust fund. After all, a successful doctor who left behind a sizeable inheritance would have certain…benefits for a sixteen-year-old."

Will channeled his magic and summoned a magic spell seal over his old bike. The seal began morphing it and his old bicycle was soon transformed into a dark blue Kawasaki Ninja 300 motorcycle. "Ok, this I can get on board with." He summoned up a helmet and sat on the bike, ready to tear up the road when he realized something particularly important. "I have no idea how to ride a motorcycle…and I don't have a motorcycle driver's license. Well, that's disappointing."

Will got off the bike, made the helmet vanish and thought up of something else. "Ok, so motorcycle is out of the question but maybe a car might be better?"

Will conjured up another spell seal and began morphing the motorcycle into a car. First, he morphed it into a grey Aston Martin DBS V12 from Casino Royale. "Nah, too James Bond."

He then morphed it into a red, white, and blue Jaguar E-Type Roadster decked out in the shape of the British Flag. "Nope, too Austin Powers. I'm not feeling very groovy today."

Another metamorphosis spell and the car morphed into the DeLorean from Back to the Future. "Retro and I like it but not exactly the most reliable car."

Another change and the spell morphed the car into Bumblebee from Transformers. Not the autobot, but the yellow and black-stripped Chevy Camaro. "Hmmm, maybe. Definitely a contender. Then again Drift was kind of cool if not slightly offensive, but a Bugatti would be a little much."

He then morphed the car into the Batmobile from the Tim Burton Batman films. "Ha-ha, ok. Definitely for Halloween."

He then morphed it into the Silver Saleen S7 from Bruce Almighty. He looked it over from front to back and he kind of liked it. "Ok, I think this will do." Will hit the garage door button before getting into the driver's seat and turning the ignition on, hearing the purr of the smooth engine and the roar as he revved it up like anyone would do. "High-ho silver! AWAY!"

He hit the accelerator and peeled out of his garage before making a left turn and burning rubber down his street. Feeling the nice rich leather on the chairs and the interior of the car…man, did magic have a lot of awesome uses or not? He drove through town which raised some eyebrows and attention from people on the sidewalks. It wasn't every day a supercar would drive through town, so it drew some notice. He made it to Sweetwater River and parked on the side of the road where one of the anchor seals was placed. One quick magic wave over the seal and it seemed to be in perfect working order. He heard some footsteps, so he quickly stood up and saw Jughead walking down the road.

"Who are you?" Jughead asked.

"That's a nice hello, Jughead." Will replied. Jughead took a closer look and realized he was talking to Will.

"Will? Jesus, what the hell happened to you?" Jughead asked, shocked to see his best friend back in Riverdale and he was so different.

"Hello to you, too Jughead. Good to see you after an entire summer away. I'm fine by the way, thanks for asking." Will joked, happy to see his best friend.

"Yeah, You're Will all right." Jughead looked him over and still couldn't believe it was him. "What happened to you?"

"A lot over the summer. I did some changing and it was nice that puberty finally caught up to me in a nice way." He told him. "Now, come on. Bring it in."

"Do I have too?" Jughead asked.

"I could force you into it now so you might as well get it over with." Will told him and Jughead reluctantly agreed. The two best friends shared a heartfelt hug. "I missed you buddy."

"You too." Jughead smiled as he hugged him back. It was good to have Will back in Riverdale. "So, when did you get back in town?"

"Just a few hours ago, actually. After I unpacked and helped my mom, I wanted to take a drive and I ended up here. Kind of glad I did." Will said, looking out at the river. "They still haven't found his body?"

"No, nothing yet. Kevin said his dad dragged that entire river all the way and they found nothing but fish."

"I honestly still can't believe it happened. I mean, Jason was captain of the water polo team and he drowns in Sweetwater River?" Will felt the whole thing didn't add up.

"I imagine hitting your head on a rock counteracts any swimming experience." Jughead suggested. "I'm glad your back in town. Things haven't been the same since 4th of July."

Will looked at Jughead and noted the undertone in his voice with that last sentence. "What's wrong?"

"Well, let's just say that you and I are both on the list of people Archie seems to have forgotten are his friends. He ditched me on our 4th of July trip at the last second and didn't say why." Jughead told him.

"Sorry, dude. Well, I'm back now and from someone who knows what that feels like, I know the perfect way of moving on. Step one, is a run to Pop's. He still around?" Will asked.

"The place hasn't changed a bit, but you have." Jughead said, gesturing to the supercar. "Did you steal this?"

"Please, as if I'd ever be stupid enough to steal a car and drive it without changing the vin numbers and repainting it." Will joked. "I might have done a little splurging over the summer. I came into some money."

"A lot of money it seems." Jughead stated.

"Yeah, come on. I'll explain it over fries and milkshakes at Pop's." Will said, getting into the driver's seat while Jughead got into the passenger seat. Jughead looked at the smooth, high-tech interior and this was the real deal supercar. How the hell did Will come into enough money to get this? Not to mention the drastic body change over the summer. There had to be something else going on but before he could think of anything else, Will hit the accelerator and drove to Pop's like he was in the Fast and Furious franchise.

The Saleen S7 super car pulled up to Pop's and parked outside which drew some looks from the patrons inside and when Will and Jughead entered, it drew even more odd looks. People wondered who the new kid was and what Jughead was doing with him and if the car was perhaps stolen but not necessarily in that order.

Pop Tate was wiping down the counter as Jughead and his mystery friend walked into the diner. "Hey, Jughead. Who's the celebrity?"

"Well, nice to know that nobody recognizes me now. Maybe I should think up of a fake name and screw with everyone before they figure out?" Will asked Jughead. Pop took a second look at the new visitor and began to notice some facial similarities and the eyes looked familiar. "Hang on, will this help?"

Will reached into jacket pocket, conjuring up the glasses Cheryl gave him for his birthday. The black and cherry red frames with just glass in front of them since he didn't need corrective lenses. "Will?"

"Yup, it's me Pop. Glad to know my summer makeover fooled even you." Will joked as Pop Tate walked around the counter to hug him. "It's good to see you. I mean, Manhattan is great but finding an honest to god burger place that doesn't rip you off is impossible."

"Well, there has only ever been one Pop's and it'll stay that way. It's good to see you, son." Pop pat him on the shoulder and smiled, seeing the young man in front of him grow over the summer and even though he may have physically changed he still seemed to be the same Will. "So, what can I get you two?"

"A basket of fries, a double cheeseburger and two milkshakes please. One vanilla. One chocolate." Will ordered.

"Coming right up." Pop put the order ticket in the kitchen window while Will and Jughead sat in a booth.

"Ah, it feels good to be back here. New York is fun and all, but nothing beats Pop's." Will said.

"I'll believe that when I see it." Jughead told him. "So, what happened over the summer?"

"I told you, Jug. I mean, I know I was gone but we did have those calls and conversations, right?" Will asked.

"We did but it seems you left out some glaringly obvious changes." Jughead said, gesturing to his whole transformation.

"Fair enough. Guess I wanted to see how you would react." Will joked. "When I finally learned the truth about my father…what he was…what he went through and what he did to protect me…I guess you can say it changed something in me. Honestly, a part of me would have been happy to remain blissfully ignorant."

"Anyone would." Jughead told him.

"After learning what I did…there was a lot on my mind and not necessarily the good stuff, so I needed an outlet. My uncle and mom took me to trainer to focus my emotions on something more…productive, I guess you could say. That and puberty…turned me into this." Will told him.

"And who is this person in front of me because you act like the Will I know, but you don't really look like him and I am a little concerned." Jughead replied, half-joking but half-serious.

"And I wouldn't expect anything less from Jughead Jones. I guess I'm figuring out who this new version of me is. I'm still the same old me…but I've done some growing and changing over the summer." Will said as Pop's brought over their usual milkshake orders, a basket of fries and the cheeseburger. "Thanks, Pop."

Will took a fry before sliding the cheeseburger plate over to Jughead. "Well, I'm glad you remember my weakness." Jughead said, taking a bite of the burger. "So, where'd you get the car?"

"I bought it." Will replied. "Along with telling me the truth my mom and Uncle told me of the inheritance he left me. Besides being a pretty good doctor…he played the stock market pretty well."

"How well are we talking?" Jughead asked, curious as to the answer.

"Well, let's just say that the Blossoms aren't the only rich family in Riverdale anymore." He told him which raised an eyebrow in Jughead and his curiosity.

"Wait, if you were that rich, then why do you and your mom look like the picture of middle-class livelihood?" Jughead asked.

"You just answered your question, Jug. My mom doesn't need a lot of things and she's not that kind of person. Heck, I'm not that kind of person." Will assured him only for Jughead to point out the supercar parked outside. "I'm entitled to splurging a tiny bit. I'm still the same person I was before…and that car is just to help me get around. Besides, anyone else in my position would have done a lot worse. Most of it is saved up for college or a rainy day but I've set aside some for some personal stuff if the need ever arises. Which reminds me now that you know this, you're probably going to be asking me to buy every single meal we have together now, aren't you?"

"Pretty much." Jughead said before turning to Pop. "Pop, can I get a soda, another double cheeseburger, and an order of onion rings and French fries to go?"

"Uh, you sure, Jughead?" Pop asked for clarification.

"He's sure, Pop." Will added.

"All right, you're funeral." Pop put the ticket in the window.

"If you actually eat that much, you're gonna be useless tomorrow." Will joked.

"Well, it's the first day of school. Not like a lot is going to happen besides that." Jughead joked.

"So, Jughead what were you doing out by Sweetwater River? Given what happened, I figured it'd be like persona non grata around here." Will questioned.

"I saw something there. Something odd." Jughead took out his phone to show him the pictures of the glowing symbols. The same glowing symbols tied to the spell he placed around the town. Jughead must have seen them glowing.

"What do you think they are?" Will asked. "Is someone tagging Sweetwater River now?"

"I'm not sure. They look Latin to me." Jughead told him.

"Maybe we've got a cult in town?" Will joked.

"Please, like that would ever happen." Jughead replied as Pop put Jughead's order on the counter. "All right, thanks for burger and the catchup. I'm gonna head out of here."

"You want me to give you a lift?" Will asked.

"No, I'll be fine. Besides, your car is too fancy for me. I'll see you tomorrow." Jughead bid him farewell, taking his food with him.

"Well, this just got complicated." Will would have to play things a little close to the vest with Jughead on his case. If Jughead was one thing, it was curious and said curiosity usually killed the cat…well let's not use the word killed. How about…got in trouble?

Will placed the order for his mom and Wong before heading back home, missing the small little date between his two old friends and the arrival of his newest one at Pop's that set an unexpected precedent for what was to come…and it wasn't going to be easy.

End of Chapter 1

Hoped you guys liked the first chapter of the story. It dealt with a lot of backstory and set the stage for what's to come. I hoped you guys like the change up of the magic, I made it more intense and visceral then what Sabrina showcases. Obviously since I took inspiration from Dr. Strange there's a reason for that as the magic and wider scope of the mystical conflict will continue to come up.

Next chapter, Will starts his first day of sophomore year of high school and it'll be interesting for sure. Going back to school completely transformed is one thing but juggling the two halves of his life won't be easy, especially since the coven will start to rear their ugly head again. Plus, he finds out that his normal life is not going to be as normal as he would like. Until next time.

Also, let me know what you guys think for the pairing. I highly doubt it'll stay solid throughout the story and three years of high school Will has considering his dual identity and I'm hoping to make things interesting. Honestly, I've got some ideas of betrayals, jealousy, and things for the future, but I want to know your opinion. I might post a poll in the future but leave it in a review or send me a PM on your opinion of the pairing.

William Arcani Strange (Arcani means destined for greatness)

Birthdate: June 24th, 2001-16 years old

Appearance: Robbie Amell

Usually wears sneakers, dark blue or black jeans, a form fitting blue t-shirt with a black button up over and his red bomber jacket of levitation on top.

Eye of Agamotto necklace (Charmed to appear about the size of a silver dollar)

Sling Ring (Charmed to look like two gold rings on his ring and middle finger)

Personality: Kind, caring, generous, smart, and quick-witted. Easy to talk to and able to read people upon meeting them. When crossed or pushed to the wall, will fight back tooth and nail for himself or the people he cares about.

Powers:

Energy blasts, mystical bolts, astral projection, banishment/exorcism, dream walking, conjuring of objects, transmutation, telepathy, telekinesis, flight, protective shields, hypnotism, illusions, elemental manipulation, teleportation.

Blessed by Agamotto the all-seeing, Omnipotent Oshtur, and Hoggarth, lord of the Hosts, along with other deities.

Eye of Agamotto necklace protects wearer from mystical danger,

Mystical, ancient, witch, and dark knowledge

Skilled martial artists

Christine Palmer: Rachel McAdams

Wong: Benedict Wong

Disclaimer: I don't own Dr. Strange, Riverdale or any above-mentioned properties. All rights belong to their respective owners.