"Alex…where are we? What just happened?" Dan immediately fired question after question at me as we scrambled confusedly to our feet in the dimly lit museum-like building. I shook my head in dumbfounded silence for a few seconds at our surroundings, closed doors and glass cabinets lining the walls.
"I don't know…" I breathed, afraid to make too much noise. Even our slight movements were amplified in the silence of the house as we walked carefully around the small space we had been teleported to.
"It's too quiet in here…" Dan murmured as he wandered towards one of the glass cabinets. As he squinted through the glass to see what was inside, I ventured to explore the place we were in. I reached the end of a hallway and my eyes reflexively squinted at the bright daylight that filled the large room. I looked up to see the source of the light and frowned as I spotted a large gaping hole in the roof over what had at one time been a grand staircase. The steps were now sunken in and cluttered with debris from the roof directly beneath the hole.
"It may take quite a while to repair that Hulk-sized hole in the roof and stairs, but I can assure you there may be greater problems than that at hand here."
My heart skipped a beat and I slammed my shoulder into the corner of the hallway trying the whirl around the face the person who spoke. He was a shorter, stockier man with the same serene expression as Doctor Strange.
"A-Are you Wong?" I guessed once I had caught my breath from the scare. The man gave a half smile and nodded briefly, looking to my hand which was still clenched in a fist over my heart.
"Strange gave you the Stone?" He commented knowingly, his voice lowered considerably. I slowly held my hand out to the man, uncurling my burning fingers from the object in my palm.
"Ah…he's disguised it fairly well…it looks like a piece of costume jewelry." Wong said approvingly. He looked up to my face, where my fear and disbelief were clearly evident.
"Take it…please. I think he gave it to me to make sure I got it here safely to you." I said quickly, pushing my hand towards him pleadingly. "You're here now, so it's yours. Here."
Wong studied the bronzed necklace in my palm for a long moment in silence before he turned a narrowed gaze up to my face. He shook his head slowly, and seemed to almost look through me when he spoke.
"No. Strange chose to give you the stone for a reason. I cannot take the burden upon myself in an attempt to undo what he has started." He said cryptically. I blinked up at him in disbelief, looking back down at the necklace as I swallowed hard in thought.
"But I'm just a kid…"
"…And that's precisely why he must have thought you would be a good cover for it." Wong said with a curt nod as he put a hand on my shoulder and directed me back down the side hallway where Dan and I had been transported moments earlier.
"Where is Doctor Strange now?" I asked hesitantly, fearing that I would know the answer. Wong was silent for a moment before he shook his head.
"He allowed himself to be taken so that the threat would leave this world…for now." He said slowly. I stopped walking and turned to face him, the news feeling like a cold weight had fallen onto me.
"…Taken?" I repeated, my voice cracking. "But…But he was just talking to me a few minutes ago…"
"Oh my God! Help!"
My head jerked up in surprise as Wong immediately fell into a battle- ready stance, his fists radiating with golden protective mandalas. I looked in the direction Wong faced, peering over the man's shoulder from where he had stepped in front of me. From the darkness of the hallway, Dan ran screaming, barely stopping in time before he collided with Wong's glowing discs.
"Woah!" Dan exclaimed as he skidded to stop, eyes landing on Wong for a brief second before he pointed anxiously over his own shoulder. "There…there was a huge snake back there!"
"What did you do?" I asked him accusingly. Dan shook his head and continued to frantically point down the hallway.
"It's in one of those cases! I thought it was this old walking stick thing but then it slithered down from the holder and struck at the glass! I thought it was gonna break through!" Dan stammered. Any other time I would have laughed at my friend's situation but with the news I had just heard about one of Earth's defenders being taken…
Wong lowered his fists, the glow fading away as he looked between me and Dan.
"He's with you?" He asked me curtly. I nodded quickly and Dan stepped out of the magician's way as Wong headed down the hallway where Dan had come from.
"That's Wong, Doctor Strange's friend." I explained under my breath as Dan and I hurried to keep up with Wong. He seemed to know the exact case Dan had been talking about because he halted in front of one and made a few quick hand movements. Whatever was moving around in the dark case immediately stopped and Dan and I watched in awe as the magician worked. Wong silently reached through the glass, the material rippling like water as he did so, and he picked up the thing that was in the bottom of the case, replacing it in the holders along the wall. As his arms came back through the glass, he made a few more hand gestures and then stepped back away from the case. I moved to his side and peered into the dark case, seeing exactly what Dan had described – an old, worn walking stick.
"Touch nothing in this house." Wong ordered under his breath, walking back down the hallway. Dan and I stared wide-eyed at the case for a few more seconds before trailing after the man, not wanting to be left alone in one place for too long. When we both had quietly caught up with Wong's swift pace, I finally spoke up.
"Um…I'm Alex, by the way…and this is Dan…I feel like we kinda missed our introductions back there…"
"I know who you are." Wong said simply, not turning to look back at us as we followed him down the hall. Dan gave me a puzzled look which I returned before I skipped a few steps closer to keep up with Wong's quick footfalls.
"How do you know who we are? M-magic?" I asked in disbelief, my voice level dropping. Wong smirked to himself and shook his head.
"No, Strange told me about you."
"How is that possible? When? It was less than two minutes after he sent us here that you showed up!" I stopped in my tracks, confusion washing over me yet again. Wong continued to smile to himself and tapped his temple teasingly. My eyes widened and Dan gasped in what I assumed was either excitement or the fact that whatever was in the case beside us flashed briefly like it was taking a photograph of our bewildered expressions.
"So…what do you think he wanted me to do with it?" I asked Wong. The magician was busying himself in the corner of the room where he had summoned a small fire that was currently floating over a countertop. Dan sat beside me at the large table in the center of the room, eyeing the man with silent awe. The snake scare was still fresh in his mind, and I decided to appreciate his silence for the moment.
"I'm sure he will tell you when something needs to be done." Wong said softly over his shoulder. I raised my eyebrows in acknowledgement, beginning to catch onto the trend that Wong liked to speak in riddles.
"Well, I'm not hearing anything so far…I guess I should take that as a good sign though." I commented lightly. Wong turned around slowly from the corner, carrying a small tea kettle. He set it gently on the tabletop before us, reaching behind him to grab two small cups to place in front of us.
"Or it could also mean that he is preoccupied with other threats at the moment." Wong said bitterly, his expression stern with what I assumed was worry for his colleague.
"Why didn't he give the Stone to someone else? Like Iron Man?" I blurted out. The necklace lay on the table next to where Wong was carefully pouring tea into Dan's cup. Wong shook his head slowly as he proceeded to pour the steaming liquid into my cup.
"Tony Stark followed Strange to seek out the threat." Wong explained, his tone gravely serious. Another stone dropped into my stomach and I shook my head in disbelief.
"If…if they're both gone…then who's going to protect us?" Dan finally spoke up shakily. I glanced over to see his pale face, lined with fear. I flicked my gaze to Wong who turned away from our cups to replace the kettle on the floating flames.
"Drink your tea…it calms the nerves." Wong said, avoiding Dan's question. I sighed heavily, my stomach knotted with worry and dread of what possible threats I had just been burdened with. Staring at the bronze eye on the table next to my cup, I realized how, in the split second that Doctor Strange had frozen time, my world had changed immensely. I reached for the cup by my hand, seeing that my fingers shook considerably before wrapping around it.
"So, we just hold on to this thing and wait, is that my understanding?" I deadpanned, placing my hand protectively over the necklace before raising the cup underneath my nose to smell the earthy scent of the hot tea.
"Drink." Wong ordered again from the corner of the room. I tilted the cup to my lips and noticed a quiet thud to my left. Once I'd taken a large sip of the liquid, I instantly pulled the cup away and blanched at the taste. I looked to my left side, sensing that something was different. My eyes widened as I suddenly realized that I was in the room alone.
"Alexander."
I jerked my gaze away from the spotless wooden dining table, my heart hammering with confused fear. A tall figure in a billowing red cloak stared levelly down at me, and before my mind could piece together who it was, he gestured to the chair beside me.
"Anyone sitting there?" Doctor Strange asked casually, his voice echoing in the now-empty room. I shook myself internally and watched in fascination as the chair slid away from the table so that he could take a seat beside me.
"Is this a dream?" I asked dumbly after a few seconds. Strange scoffed and shook his head, his goatee twitching with what looked like dark humor.
"No, it's not a dream." He said patiently. He moved his gaze to my hand where it still rested on the tabletop, covering the necklace protectively. "And I really wish you'd keep that somewhere safer."
"I…I know…" I said absently as I slowly slid my hand and the necklace closer to me and the edge of the table.
"I know it's a big responsibility, probably one of the most important you've ever had and ever will have…" He continued, his tone serious. I flicked my gaze up to him challengingly.
"What exactly do you want me to do with this thing anyway? I'm here with your magician buddy, and even he won't tell me anything!" I blurted out, my stress overpowering me. Doctor Strange snapped his mouth shut and I noticed a twinkle of mixed emotions in his eyes.
"Right now…nothing. But when the time comes – and it will come sooner than you think – you must do everything you can to protect it." He cautioned. I stared at him in worried disbelief.
"Okay…" I looked around at the empty room surrounding me. "So…if you're here right now, why can't you come back 'when the time comes' and take care of it yourself?"
"I'm not really here right now." Strange said, confirming my feeling of dread. "This is just my astral form."
"Right. Okay." I said, pocketing the necklace and propping my elbow up on the table to face him sarcastically. "Then where is the real you right now?"
"At the moment…I'm being held prisoner on an alien spaceship about to be tortured into giving up the Stone." He said casually. My eyes widened slightly and I reached back for my pocket.
"The…the Stone that I have…" I commented slowly. He nodded.
"And that's precisely the reason I gave it to you. So that, given any form of circumstances and/or torture, I would have no means to give it up."
"Oh." I said thoughtfully, suddenly realizing the stakes that now rested on my shoulders. Doctor Strange stood up from the chair and patted me on the shoulder.
"I've gotta go now, Alexander…" He said quietly, looking around at something that I couldn't see.
"How am I going to protect this Stone? Can't you teach me some magic or something really quick to help me out?" I asked, my mind in panic mode once more. Strange moved away from me quickly, not meeting my gaze.
"Wong will teach you what you need to know, just listen and open your mind." His voice was just a distant echo and when I blinked next, he was gone.
"Alex? Alex!"
I picked my head up from where it had fallen to the tabletop, a small puddle of drool by my cheek.
"He lives!" I heard Dan's voice from behind me. He grabbed my shoulders and shook me into an upright position and I groaned as I wiped my face.
"First astral trips are often a little unsettling." Wong's voice said from the corner of the room by the steaming tea kettle. I looked back at him and he nodded reassuringly towards my cup where it had been knocked over on the tabletop. I was relieved the find that the large puddle of liquid that had been pooling by my face hadn't actually been my saliva, but just lukewarm tea.
"You were out, man!" Dan said, smacking my shoulder again in an attempt to get me talking.
"Did you just drug me? With tea?" I asked, staring suspiciously up at Wong.
"There was nothing in the tea except tea. Did you find out what you needed to know?" Wong asked seriously, sipping at his own un-drugged tea. I made myself nod shakily as I righted the overturned cup by my hand.
"Yeah…I guess so. But right now, I just want to lie down again."
"Very well. I'll show you boys to your rooms, then." Wong said solemnly, setting his cup down to lead us out of the room, Dan clinging to my elbow to help me stand on my shaky two feet. I was so not looking forward to meeting Doctor Strange like that again.