I was starting to get bored of our little back-and-forth—this never-ending game of questions where I always seemed to be the one on the receiving end. The look on the wizard's face made me second-guess myself. Maybe mentioning Solomon wasn't my smartest move.
Now I'm just hoping whatever conclusion he's drawing in that mystical brain of his ends with me getting out of this cramped box… and not something worse.
"Strange, what is it?" the tin-man asked, curiosity evident after noticing the wizard's odd reaction to my comment about Solomon.
"Did you figure something out?" the blond American golden boy—who fought as though he lives on a steady diet of super steroids—pressed. I call him that for obvious reasons. I mean, I watched him take down those monsters with nothing but a freaking shield.
He doesn't seem like he has actual superpowers. If anything, he comes off like a soldier with enhanced strength and speed. Then again… maybe that does count as superpowers. Hard to say for sure.
"It's nothing," the wizard replied, quickly composing himself.
Yeah, right. It's definitely not nothing. We all saw the way he reacted when I mentioned Solomon. Hold on—something isn't adding up here.
"You know something," I pressed, watching as he fixed me with a stern, assessing stare. "You don't just randomly ask if some human bestowed a gift on me without having a reason." The others glanced between the two of us while he kept studying me like my very existence had just shifted something in his mind.
"He's got a point," the science nerd in glasses chimed in, and just like that, everyone turned to him, waiting for him to elaborate.
With a deep breath and a slow exhale, he turned away—leaving me on the other side of the glass. "We'll leave it at that for now," he said to no one in particular before heading toward the exit, the others trailing closely behind him.
And just like that, I was alone again in this cramped little box, left to wonder whether that comment was meant for me… or for his band of hero buddies.
Honestly, this whole situation keeps getting worse by the minute. They seem like the good guys so far, which makes me wonder—would they panic if they realized they'd locked up a minor without so much as a charge?
That would flip this entire mess into a straight-up kidnapping case. I'd pay good money to see their faces if I pulled a reverse Uno like that—watching them go from righteous protectors to the very kind of criminals they swear to keep their city safe from.
Now that would be hilarious. For me, at least. Definitely not for them.
I turned back and walked over to the bed, sitting down on the edge of it. I'm sure they're watching through the cameras scattered around this place. Best to stay calm. Act unbothered. No point in letting them see me rattled.
Just because they seem like they're on the side of good doesn't mean I should go handing my identity over to a room full of strangers.
If I want them to keep taking me seriously, then staying in this form is probably my safest bet.
Things didn't exactly go great when the Justice League realized I was just a kid playing hero. No reason to assume these guys would react any differently.
Doesn't look like anyone's coming back anytime soon. Might as well get comfortable… this could take a while.
- - -
Doctor Strange and the others regrouped in the briefing room.
Resting a hand on Strange's shoulder, Tony Stark said, "Start talking."
The sorcerer met his gaze evenly, eyes narrowing slightly as his Cloak of Levitation flicked Tony's arm off his shoulder on its own. It almost felt like the Avengers—Tony in particular—had very little regard for who he was: the Sorcerer Supreme, master of the mystic arts and head of Kamar-Taj.
Bruce Banner and Steve Rogers remained standing, both watching him expectantly, waiting for an explanation. Tony pulled out a chair and took a seat at the table, while Thor and the others stayed seated, anticipation hanging in the air. Whatever had made the Sorcerer Supreme react like that from just hearing the name of a biblical king clearly wasn't all that trivial.
Thor quickly gathered up the scattered bottles on the table and tucked them out of sight by his side, leaving only the last one in his hand. He did it to avoid the inevitable lecture from both Tony and Steve about cleaning up after himself. A god shouldn't be ordered around by mortals—so he handled it preemptively, choosing to appear responsible instead.
"I'm not entirely sure how to explain this—or even where to begin, considering I only vaguely remember the details myself," Doctor Strange admitted, remaining on his feet even as Bruce Banner and Steve Rogers took their seats at the table.
"I don't know," Tony Stark cut in, "maybe start with why you reacted like that when he mentioned Solomon."
"Yeah, isn't he that king from religious texts?" Clint Barton asked.
"Yes," Strange finally replied, sounding like he'd managed to gather his thoughts. "He is known as a king blessed with immense wisdom and untold riches."
"Let's not skip over the ridiculous number of wives," Tony casually chimed in, as if that detail were somehow crucial to the king's legacy.
Catching the sorcerer's sharp glare, he raised his hands slightly in surrender. "You skipped a part," he muttered before falling silent, allowing Strange to continue.
"Beyond his wisdom and wealth," Strange went on, "he was also regarded as a formidable protector of Earth against magical threats."
No one interrupted this time. The room stayed quiet, all of them listening closely—because at the moment, this was the only real lead they had on the mysterious guest from another world who was being held downstairs.
Seeing their undivided attention, Doctor Strange continued.
"Among us sorcerers, King Solomon is regarded as a legendary Sorcerer Supreme. He was extraordinarily powerful."
"At Kamar-Taj, there are records—fragments, really—of a prophecy he left behind. It speaks of a time when Earth would fall into great peril, at the mercy of a terrible evil. An evil that, once unsealed, would trigger the release of even greater horrors. A chain reaction… one that could very well mark the end of the world as humanity knows it." He paused briefly, noticing how everyone leaned in, as though he were spinning a campfire tale.
"Or at least… that's how I vaguely remember it," he added.
"I'm still not seeing where our little friend fits into this," Steve Rogers pressed, clearly unsatisfied with the lack of connection to Strange's—strange reaction from earlier.
Pun intended.
"He also spoke of a single individual," Strange continued, his tone turning solemn. "Someone deemed worthy. A chosen champion of the gods—a blessed, with a virtuous heart. Only such a person might be capable of interfering… and possibly preventing humanity's destruction. He did say this champion was to possess a gift from him….or something like that." Strange vaguely recalled.
"A virtuous heart, huh?" Tony replied flatly, the sarcasm practically writing itself across his face.
"So you're saying our friend down there might actually be here to save us?" Bruce asked, trying to piece it together.
"And he just conveniently gets zapped into our world right on schedule?" Clint Barton countered. "Doesn't that make him the snowball that starts the whole thing?" After all, Shazam had shown up right in the middle of those invading creatures. Timing like that wasn't exactly subtle.
Tony spread his arms and shrugged, silently backing Clint up like he'd just voiced exactly what he was thinking.
"I doubt that," Doctor Strange said firmly, moving to take a seat near the front.
"Did this all-knowing king bother to mention what this 'great evil' actually is?" Tony pressed. "A name would be nice."
"No," Strange replied.
"Fantastic," Tony said dryly. "So what we've got is a vague prophecy—which, by the way, isn't exactly helpful—an unidentified 'champion' currently locked in our basement, and the possible release of some mystery evil we can't even put a label on."
He clearly wasn't sold on centuries-old predictions. A half-remembered prophecy wasn't much to work with—especially if they were risking tunnel vision, focusing on ancient warnings instead of the bigger picture right in front of them.
"Well, at least we've got that champion chosen by these so-called gods," Thor cut in, shifting his eyes toward Doctor Strange. "Which gods exactly?" he pressed, clearly intrigued. The rest of the room followed his gaze, waiting for an answer.
"I don't know."
The response earned a few disappointed looks, though no one had really expected a concrete answer. Everything about their guest downstairs had been one giant question mark from the start.
Strange lifted a hand to his chin, slowly stroking his goatee as he drifted into thought. "If I could determine the attributes of the powers he wields," he muttered, "I might be able to identify which pantheon, or which gods, are associated with them."
"That part's easy," Tony Stark said with a bored smirk tugging at his mouth, casually gesturing toward Thor. "Sparkles here and his lightning twin downstairs gave us a pretty solid demonstration. We've already seen a few of his tricks."
He turned to face the room fully, absently twirling a small gadget in his hand like a fidget toy.
"It's not like he's subtle about it," Tony went on. "Cape? Check. Giant lightning bolt stamped on his chest? Check. You don't need a PhD to figure out the guy can fly and throw lightning."
He wasn't trying to be insulting—just nudging everyone to actually list what they'd witnessed, even the obvious stuff someone else might've overlooked.
"He's incredibly fast," Clint added.
"He took a direct hit from Thor's hammer to the face and came out completely fine," Bruce contributed, a hint of astonishment in his voice as he reached up to adjust his glasses.
"And strong," Steve Rogers chimed in, leaning on the table with both elbows as he interlaced his fingers. "He went head-to-head with Thor and didn't get a single scratch."
Strange turned his head toward his right shoulder, subtly averting his gaze from Thor as if silently asking for confirmation.
"That is correct," Thor said. "He wields lightning that rivals mine. It doesn't feel like my own, or else I might suspect that some version of Thor in his world blessed him with those powers."
"Then maybe it comes from a different god of thunder," Tony interjected.
"Zeus is one possibility," Strange offered, suggesting a god the stranger's power might be associated with.
Seeing the conversation veering too far into speculation, Tony steered it back toward the team's immediate priorities.
"Now that we've established he probably doesn't mean us any harm, do we let him out?" he asked, including Strange in the discussion.
"Well, I don't see why not," Bruce replied.
"If he is innocent, we've basically been holding him hostage against his will," Steve added. "Keeping him any longer could make us look bad."
"Even the police wouldn't hold him for more than twenty-four hours," Natasha noted, echoing Tony's point.
"All in all, he's still… kind of a weird one," Tony added dryly. "Jarvis confirmed he hasn't even used the bathroom since we locked him up."
"That is… weird," Clint Barton agreed, then shot a suspicious look at Tony Stark. "Why exactly would you have Jarvis keep tabs on that?"
Steve Rogers also turned to Tony, mirroring that same mix of curiosity and suspicion.
Tony didn't answer. He just gave a casual shoulder shrug, offering no justification or explanation for his actions.
"I mean, the guy could probably go number one or number two at superspeed," Bruce noted in passing.
"But he can't flush at superspeed," Tony added, a smug grin tugging at his lips.
After some discussion, they finally reached a decision: he would be released, and whatever he chose to do afterward would be entirely up to him. This wasn't his world, and with his previous one destroyed, he'd have little choice but to remain in this one.
If he decided to continue living as a hero, as he'd claimed he had in his former Earth, they could certainly use the help—especially with this mysterious evil that was prophesied to potentially bring the end of humanity.