The Magus In Marvel

If we set aside cursing Zelretch for a bit—not that we should, but hypothetically—then the presence of the Jeweled Sword was an even bigger headache than expected.

That old man wouldn't send something like this just for fun. Well, maybe he would, but that wasn't the point.

If he sent this, it meant its use might be required. And that was not a comforting thought.

Don't tell me some idiotic Celestials are coming to Earth ahead of their original timeline. They shouldn't, right? Because we have an old baldy and an old blindy still alive and roaming around. Right? Right?

Either way, I need to be careful. One wrong step, and everything might spiral into chaos. Speaking of steps—Step 1: Joining the Avengers was completed. Now, time for Step 2.

…Which I'll work on after I figure out what Step 2 actually is.

......................

Tony strolled into the room, eyes immediately locking onto the crystalline weapon floating ominously mid-air. As he entered, Rin's thoughts briefly wandered—Tony didn't seem to have PTSD, considering the whole 'driving a nuke through a portal' incident was prevented. But he had gotten obsessed with creating better armors. Well, guess an alien invasion does that to you.

He pointed at the floating blade. "Okay, I've seen a lot of weird things lately, but that is new. Mind explaining, kid?"

Rin folded her arms, leveling him with a flat look. "Zelretch's Jeweled Sword. Also known as the Kaleidoscope. It's one of the most powerful magical artifacts in existence, belonging to a lunatic who can manipulate infinite parallel worlds."

Tony blinked. "Huh." Then he smirked. "Bet my suits could take it on."

Rin scoffed. "Oh, please. This thing manipulates time, space, and reality itself. Your suits wouldn't even have time to register that they lost."

"Bold claim," Tony said, clearly enjoying the back-and-forth. "Sounds like a challenge."

"It's not."

"Sure, sure. You just don't want to admit that my suits are awesome."

Rin pinched the bridge of her nose. "I refuse to entertain this nonsense."

Pepper, walking into the room at that moment, arched a brow at the two of them. "Are you seriously arguing about whether Tony's suits can fight a concept?"

"He started it," Rin grumbled.

Pepper sighed, shaking her head. "Honestly, I'm just glad Tony's found someone who matches his mental age."

Tony gasped in mock offense. "Et tu, Pepper?"

Ignoring his dramatics, Rin turned her attention back to the Jeweled Sword. As much as she hated to admit it, having a Reality-Breaking Superweapon on hand might actually be useful. She just wished it didn't come from him.

Speaking of suits, though…

Pepper's presence reminded Rin of something important—Tony's lack of suits in the near future. If things played out the way she remembered, then in about six months, he'd blow them all up.

Which was insanely wasteful. Not to mention, those suits would be perfect grunt soldiers against Thanos's army.

Time to address that issue ahead of schedule.

And that meant taking a hands-on approach with Aldrich Killian.

Smirking to herself, Rin cracked her knuckles. "Alright. Step 2 starts now. And hey, my genius has come up with a brilliant Step 3, which will derail most of the timeline but should prevent the splitting of the team at the end of Civil War altogether."

She let out a fake evil laugh, and ominous music played in the background. "Thanks, JARVIS," she said smugly.

"Always happy to assist, Miss Tohsaka," JARVIS responded in his typical British butler tone.

Rin clapped her hands together. "Alright, Tony, remember how I said my mentor can see the future? Well, he might or might not have shown me a few things. So you know the AIM research institute? You might want to keep an eye on a certain Aldrich Killian. He's got a bone to pick with you."

Tony raised a brow. "And by 'bone to pick' you mean…?"

Rin sighed. "He literally might explode near Pepper. Not in the romantic way. In the I-am-on-fire-and-will-detonate way."

Tony frowned. "That's… concerning. But let me guess—you already have a plan?"

Rin smirked. "Of course. But I have more pressing matters to deal with right now. You, on the other hand, should start looking into Killian, his research, and AIM's current projects. The sooner we catch any red flags, the better."

Tony rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Alright, I'll bite. But if this turns out to be a wild goose chase—"

"It won't," Rin interrupted, already turning back to the Jeweled Sword. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have an interdimensional headache to handle."

With that settled, Rin turned back to the Jeweled Sword, her mind shifting gears. As much as she disliked its origin, she couldn't deny it had potential use. And considering who had sent it, she doubted it was just for show.

Now, onto the next problem—figuring out exactly why Zelretch had decided she needed it in the first place.

"Dealing with this mess is going to take more than just a casual plan—I'll need backup. And knowing Zelretch, he wouldn't send this thing unless he expected me to use it. If something big enough is coming that even he thinks I need this, then I can't afford to be unprepared. That means finding answers, and I know just the place to start—some magical intervention is definitely in order."

She turned to Tony. "Hey, can you get Happy to drop me off somewhere?"

.....................

"Alright, Miss Tohsaka, we're here," Happy announced as he pulled up to a very specific address.

Rin stepped out, taking a deep breath as she faced the building in front of her.

177A Bleecker Street, Greenwich Village, New York City.

Time to have a chat with the local sorcerer. And since Stephen Strange wasn't a sorcerer yet, that meant one thing—the old baldy herself, the Ancient One.