Marvel: Starting as a Time Criminal, Stealing Powers

Timeline: 16356

Temporal Coordinate: 2014.09.28

Location: Earth — Kamar-Taj (Hidden Realm)

This was a pocket dimension, concealed beneath the surface of the real world.

The ground was smooth and made of bluestone, covered in overlapping circular arrays—intricately carved magical formations etched into its surface.

Ancient stone walls rose on all sides, adorned with runes, mystic glyphs, and elegant, otherworldly patterns.

There was no dome, no visible sky.

Instead, overhead, the stars twinkled within a vast, projected cosmic illusion.

Suddenly, an orange portal of space-time appeared out of thin air.

The moment Russell stepped through it, the entire timeline trembled slightly.

A second later, the suppressed flow of time began to stir.

As Russell's foot touched the ground, a chain reaction was triggered.

Magical formations lit up, casting golden light across the chamber. The runes on the rock walls turned into streams of glowing energy, rearranging and rotating of their own accord.

An enormous, multidimensional spell matrix activated.

Russell stood at its center—the key.

He watched calmly as the ancient chamber pulsed with power. He could sense the fabric of space and time bending all around him.

In the real world…

In the Sanctum Sanctorum of New York, an old bald man with a long white beard suddenly felt a powerful disturbance.

With a single step, he vanished from the room and reappeared at the convergence point of the Three Sanctums—the nexus of magical power connecting the world.

He looked down at a holographic model of the Earth, conjured by the magic array.

All the magical nodes on the planet lit up, channeling their energy toward Kamar-Taj.

"It's happening…?"

The man—Ancient One—sighed softly. A golden spell circle formed beneath his feet.

"Why does it have to be under my feet? Is this targeting me? This is clearly—Ahhh!"

Before he could finish complaining, the magic circle activated and sucked him in.

Inside the pocket dimension, Russell stood in the center of the glowing array as it reached its energy peak.

Above him, the projected stars brightened—five of them shone especially bright. They pulsed, then transformed into meteors streaking toward the ground.

Just before impact, they expanded into five dimensional portals.

Four of the portals shimmered gold, and one radiated a bright blue hue.

Russell's attention was drawn to the leftmost portal, which formed first.

From within, a loud scream echoed—

"AHHHHHH—!"

And then, like a human cannonball, a bald elderly man shot out horizontally and skidded across the floor like a stone on water, only stopping after spinning once.

Russell blinked.

Then he noticed the man now standing upright as if nothing had happened—perfectly still, like a paused frame.

One hand behind his back, chest forward, striking a proud pose.

He wore an apricot-yellow robe with red embellishments and a wide golden sash around his waist.

His face was calm and wise—serene, even.

At first glance, he looked like a powerful and ancient sorcerer.

No trace remained of his earlier tumble.

The sheer shamelessness… or was it stage presence?

Russell was briefly stunned.

Then a composed voice spoke:

"Young man, you must be the Russell the Ancient One mentioned?"

Russell looked at him strangely and muttered, "VR...?"

The man had an Asian appearance. Was he supposed to be the Yamir Magician? (Russell's mind made odd associations.)

The old man lifted his chin, his expression serene but smug.

"I am the Ancient One," he said slowly, "Sorcerer Supreme of Kamar-Taj—the most powerful arcane master in the world."

...Excuse me? Russell stared blankly.

He nodded with exaggerated seriousness.

"Ah, I've heard of you for a long time! So you're the Ancient One, huh?"

The old magician's expression cracked as he rolled his eyes.

"Young man, you're not very convincing. Your eyes betrayed you."

Then he grunted and rubbed his lower back.

"Ugh, getting old sucks. Falling hits harder."

Russell stared, dumbfounded.

Why was this Ancient One so… unserious?

He suddenly missed the female Ancient One from the main timeline.

Just then, the old man straightened his back and returned to his wise, sage-like appearance—dignified and solemn.

Russell instantly understood.

He turned to the other portals.

A second later, a woman stepped out from another gate.

Russell recognized her immediately—the bald female Ancient One from the Sacred Timeline.

She looked nearly identical, except her robe was a muted gray instead of yellow.

Her eyes were not gentle—they were sharp, filled with the stern authority of someone long accustomed to power.

She stepped forward and offered Russell a graceful magician's bow.

"I am the Ancient One of Timeline-1247, Sorcerer Supreme of my dimension."

"Greetings, Mr. Russell."

Russell had initially assumed she'd be cold and distant.

Instead, she was polite and respectful.

He immediately returned the gesture with equal sincerity.

After the initial greetings, Russell saw the female Ancient One turn and eye the male Ancient One.

She looked him up and down with visible disdain.

"Still dressing like a show-off, as always," she scoffed.

The male Ancient One stroked his neatly groomed beard, sneered back, and replied:

"What would you know, old woman?"

"Have you ever even been in love?"

At that moment, Russell clearly saw the female Ancient One clench her fists. Magical symbols began glowing faintly around her.

This atmosphere suddenly felt… wrong.

Just as Russell thought the two were about to fight, the female Ancient One said coldly:

"You senile fool, are you still hung up on Strange?"

"That man does nothing but bring chaos. He's more trouble than he's worth. If you really take him in, you'll never get to retire."

The male Ancient One snorted but didn't argue.

Russell raised an eyebrow. From the sound of it, the Supreme Alliance didn't have a very favorable opinion of Doctor Strange.

At that moment, two more figures stepped through the third and fourth golden portals.

Russell's eyes lit up in surprise.

From the third portal came a very normal-looking female Ancient One, identical in appearance and demeanor to the one from the Sacred Timeline. That was no surprise.

But the fourth portal was something else entirely.

It wasn't an Ancient One.

A man stepped out with a flamboyant mustache, a smug grin, and an unmistakable flair for theatrics.

Tony Stark.

Wearing flowing magical robes and radiating mystical energy.

Sorcerer Supreme Tony Stark.

"Hey, don't give me that look," Tony said, spreading his hands.

"Yeah, I know—in most timelines, I'm Iron Man. But what can I say? The Ancient One in my world really hated Strange."

He grinned proudly.

"Besides, I'm way better than Strange. I'm the strongest Sorcerer Supreme in history!"

"I've punched Dormammu, curb-stomped Mephisto, and cut Thanos down during a rainy Tuesday!"

Russell forced a polite smile.

"Sounds impressive."

"I'm Russell. Nice to meet you."

Supreme Tony was about to boast more, but the second female Ancient One—the stern one—cut in coldly:

"You're probably the most frequent visitor to nightclubs."

Tony just laughed and turned to Russell, grinning:

"Bro, you ever visit Timeline-7689, come find me. I'll show you what a real nightclub prince looks like. You'll have the time of your life."

Russell noted the timeline number silently, and smiled.

"Thanks. I'll definitely keep that in mind."

He turned to the fourth Ancient One, nodded, and greeted her:

"Hello, Master Ancient One."

She smiled at him and replied:

"Gulu Gulu~~"

Russell froze.

What kind of alien language is that?

Wait… had he not left the Collar Domain yet? No, that couldn't be—it made no sense.

Did he absorb too much dark energy and start hallucinating?!

Before he could spiral further, Tony laughed and shouted:

"Stoll, why are you still shape-shifted as a bald Ancient One?"

"And use English, please!"

"Gulu Gulu~~"

The figure nodded.

Then, the color and texture of her robe began to fade, her body shifting and morphing rapidly. In moments, she transformed into an alien creature resembling a pink, jelly-like worm with stalked eyes, like snail tentacles.

The skin rippled, cracked, and then—

A neutral voice rang out clearly:

"Greetings, Mr. Russell."

"I am of the Numara race, the Sorcerer Supreme of my world."

Tony walked over and explained:

"That one's a shapeshifter. Their kind was nearly hunted to extinction by a space empire. Lucky for them, their ship crashed near Mount Everest. We picked them up, brought them to Kamar-Taj, and—surprise—they had a real knack for magic."

Then Tony leaned closer and whispered into Russell's ear:

"They're genderless… but they can shift into a big-hipped blonde bombshell, a schoolgirl in thigh-high socks, a gentle neighbor lady, or even a four-armed alien nanny. Change it up every day."

Russell was speechless.

Did this guy just casually expose his weird preferences?

I still prefer sweet and soft human girls, thanks.

He pretended not to hear, which clearly disappointed Supreme Tony.

Still, Russell was quietly impressed by the diversity of the Supreme Alliance. Before now, he thought all the Sorcerer Supremes were variations of the Ancient One.

The Jelly Supreme seemed like it wanted to speak, but suddenly stopped.

Tony's expression turned serious.

Russell sensed something, too, and turned his head.

Footsteps echoed from the final portal—the blue one.

A moment later, a new figure emerged.

An Ancient One, shrouded in a faint blue halo, stepped into the light.

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