Marvel: Ned the Master of Mystic Arts

"Your Majesty, could you please ask Master Strange if there's any chance of repairing the Levitation Cloak?"

Back in his room, Ned let his body rest, reclining on the bed while his spirit sat on a nearby chair, speaking up.

"The Levitation Cloak is an incredibly rare artifact. It's highly unlikely… but I'll ask," Wang said, clearly skeptical, yet he said nothing further.

"Sorry."

Although Wanda couldn't sense the outside world at that moment, she was aware that Ned's current condition was caused by the power within her. Seeing the sorrow in his eyes, she approached, speaking softly.

"No," Ned gently shook his head. "Wanda, there's no need to feel guilty."

...

Meanwhile, while Ned was battling the Red Demon Stone, Tony Stark, too, faced one of the most challenging predicaments of his life.

"Sir? Sir! Sir!"

After multiple calls from J.A.R.V.I.S., Stark slowly regained consciousness.

"Got it. Turn off the alarm, I'm fine."

"This is an automatic emergency alert due to less than 5% energy remaining," J.A.R.V.I.S. responded inside his suit.

"What?"

Startled, Stark fully awoke. In that instant, he realized he was high in the air, rapidly plummeting toward the ground!

"Ahhh!!!"

With a scream, the Iron Man suit slammed heavily onto the ground, bouncing and sliding, skidding for what seemed like forever before finally coming to a halt.

"Ugh..."

Struggling to turn over, Stark groaned.

"J.A.R.V.I.S., open the faceplate."

As soon as the faceplate opened, a gust of cold wind rushed into the suit.

"Wow!"

Injured and dazed, Tony Stark finally came to his senses, confused. "Why is it snowing here? J.A.R.V.I.S., where are we?"

"We're five kilometers outside of Rose Mountain in Tennessee," J.A.R.V.I.S. responded.

"What?!"

Stark's voice cracked with disbelief. "J.A.R.V.I.S., I didn't plan this! What are we doing here? This is miles off track! I need to save Pepper, I need to..."

"Your intended flight plan brought us here. This is the destination."

J.A.R.V.I.S. replied with calm reason, despite being an AI.

"You..." Stark was speechless. "Open the armor, J.A.R.V.I.S."

"I... I think I'm about to shut down..."

J.A.R.V.I.S.'s voice faltered, and then, silence.

"Open it, J.A.R.V.I.S."

"Clunk! Clunk!"

After a series of mechanical noises, the suit opened, and Stark sat up.

"Wow! This is thrilling!"

Shivering from the cold, Stark muttered, "I think staying inside is way more comfortable."

"Sir, I think I'm going to sleep now."

Before Stark could react, J.A.R.V.I.S.'s voice cut off, and the AI completely powered down.

"J.A.R.V.I.S?"

Panicking, Stark called out, "J.A.R.V.I.S? Please don't leave me, buddy."

Unable to get a response, Stark dragged himself across the icy landscape, eventually reaching a payphone to leave a message for Pepper.

After leaving a voicemail, Stark hesitated for a moment, then dialed another number.

"Beeep—Beeep—"

"Click!"

"Dammit!"

Stark slammed the phone back down. "Annoying little brat. Can't count on him in a pinch."

Ned's phone was unreachable, so Stark shook his head, grabbing a blanket from a nearby statue to wrap himself up before continuing his journey.

"Boom!"

Smashing open a warehouse door, Stark was surprised to find not a storage space, but a makeshift workshop.

"This should be more comfortable for you, buddy," Stark said as he laid the Iron Man suit on the only couch, connecting it to some power.

Suddenly, a small figure appeared at the door.

"Hey! Don't move, you!"

A young boy named Harry, holding a potato cannon, advanced slowly, aiming the weapon with a serious expression at the trespassing stranger.

...

"The sandwich is okay, but the springs are a bit rusty. The rest of the materials will work for now."

Stark effortlessly handled Harry, the mechanical enthusiast. Together, they made their way to the site of a recent explosion, chatting amicably along the way.

"By the way, you mentioned your sister had a watch. I didn't expect it to be so childish."

Stark rolled up his sleeve, revealing a children's watch featuring a design of a flower.

"Ha! Come on! She's six years old, and it's a limited edition!" Harry laughed, clearly pleased by the comment.

"When can we talk about New York? I'm sure the real story is much more interesting than what's in the news," Harry said eagerly.

Stark's face stiffened as he forced out a response, "Maybe never, don't think about it."

"How about the Avengers?"

Harry wasn't discouraged by Stark's refusal, quickly shifting topics.

"No..."

Stark stopped in his tracks. "Kid, let me catch my breath..."

By this time, they had arrived at the explosion site.

"What's the official story?" Stark surveyed the destruction.

"It seems like a guy named Chad Davis did it. He used to live here, served in the army, and had a lot of medals."

Harry's tone was flat as he recounted the details.

"People say he went crazy and made a bomb that killed himself."

"Six people died, right? Including Davis?" Stark observed the area and asked.

"Yeah," Harry nodded.

"Ah..."

Stark paused and then added, "They say six people died, but look here. There are only five shadows."

Harry listened to Stark's observation and replied, "They say these are the marks of souls rising to heaven. The killer has no shadow, so he's in hell."

"Do you believe that?" Stark scoffed, but still asked Harry.

"That's what people say."

Harry gazed down at the massive crater caused by the explosion.

"You know what this big crater reminds me of?" Harry asked excitedly.

"I don't know, I... I don't care."

Stark suddenly had a bad feeling.

Sure enough, Harry's next words confirmed it.

"That giant wormhole in New York, don't you think it's similar?"

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