Mario opened his eyes and stared at the familiar patterns overhead.
"The seven days are up... Time to check on the quantum channel."
Those seven days had been pure vacation. Apart from fishing, shopping, traveling around with Skye, and playing video games until dawn, he hadn't cared about anything else. He'd avoided thinking about work, vampires, or dimensional travel. If Ivan hadn't called yesterday to say the quantum tunnel device was complete, he might have stayed lost playing games for another week.
He slipped out of bed and began rummaging through his storage chests. He pulled out stacks of materials and got to work crafting waystones and scrolls, the kind of infrastructure that would make interdimensional travel significantly more convenient.
The waystones were beautifully simple. Place your hand on one, and you could instantly teleport to any other activated waystone. In the game, short-distance jumps were free while long-distance required experience points. But in reality, he had discovered they worked without any cost whatsoever.
He placed the first waystone in his workshop and activated it. The teleportation menu appeared with a single destination listed: Universe 3.
He crafted several teleportation scrolls, portable versions of the waystones that could open the menu anywhere, and return scrolls that would instantly take him back to the nearest waystone.
Hope I never need them, but better to have and not need...
After spending half the morning on preparations, he walked to Skye's room and knocked.
"Mmm... let me sleep a little longer..."
"Go ahead and rest. I'm heading to the African base to check on the quantum tunnel equipment."
Skye's eyes snapped open immediately. "I want to come with you."
She'd been listening to his stories about the parallel universe adventure with envy. The idea of interdimensional travel clearly appealed to her.
"No. It's too dangerous."
"If I find an interesting world, I'll take you there later. Promise."
Skye bit her lip. Her mood deflated, but she didn't push further. Instead, she settled for practicing her vibrational powers, sulking just a little.
---
An hour later, Mario stood in the African base. The facility was nearly abandoned, its only real purpose serving as a waypoint to his private planet through the Tesseract portal.
He found a suitable spot and placed a waystone, then stepped through the gateway.
The planet had undergone massive changes under Ivan's supervision. What had once been barren rock now resembled a city from some science fiction future. Flying vehicles streaked through the sky, automated transport systems moved materials between facilities, and above it all, Thanos' mothership hung in orbit. Smaller craft constantly ferried cargo to and from the vessel.
A humanoid robot flew over and stopped in front of him. Ivan's voice came through its speakers. "What do you need?"
Mario waved him off. "Nothing urgent. Just here to check on the quantum tunnel status."
During Thanos' bombardment in Universe 3, the sorcerers' magical shields had protected the quantum tunnel equipment from the energy bombardment. Mario had "borrowed" the entire setup and brought it here for research.
Ivan wasn't particularly versed in quantum mechanics, so he'd left that project to Selvig while focusing on reverse-engineering the mothership's technology.
"Understood."
Mario headed toward the research complex where the quantum equipment had been installed. As he entered the spacious laboratory, his eyes immediately found the familiar figure working among a team of researchers.
"How's it going?"
Selvig looked up with a smile. "The equipment is fully calibrated. We can activate it anytime."
He hesitated, then added, "However, our research on Pym Particles has hit a bottleneck."
Mario experienced the strangest sense of déjà vu. Those exact words... hadn't he said something similar before they'd accidentally opened the Tesseract portal?
Selvig's expression froze as the same memory hit him. He immediately turned back to the equipment and began running diagnostics.
Several minutes later, after a thorough inspection revealed no issues, he sighed with relief. "I guarantee nothing will go wrong this time."
Mario nodded and glanced at the quantum tunnel platform. "Get me a suit. I'll test it myself."
Selvig's face immediately changed. "Let me do it. I need to take measurements personally."
The excuse was transparent. He simply didn't want Mario risking himself. The last time Mario had vanished before their eyes was still fresh in everyone's memory.
"If it's just me," Mario said, patting Selvig's shoulder with a smile, "I can come back instantly if there's danger. You can't."
Selvig knew about some of Mario's abilities, but he still looked uncertain. Before he could argue, Mario cut him off.
"You're important to me. More than you realize."
Selvig's eyes went red. For an old man to hear those words from someone who actually meant them stirred something inside him.
"Mario..."
"No need to say more. Get me a quantum suit."
A researcher immediately retrieved a specialized suit modeled after Ant-Man's gear and handed it to Mario.
After suiting up and checking the helmet seal, Mario stepped onto the platform. Having experienced one quantum journey already, he knew what to expect.
"Begin."
A flash of light filled the room, and Mario's figure vanished. The research team immediately began recording streams of data.
Selvig stared at the empty platform, then suddenly froze. "I forgot to ask which time period of the parallel world he wanted to visit..."
---
Through a dazzling tunnel of quantum energy, Mario's figure materialized on a rooftop. It was nighttime, but the city blazed with neon lights and heavy traffic. The nightlife here was clearly thriving.
Mario removed the specialized suit and patted himself down. "Everything still attached. Good sign."
He walked to the edge of the roof and surveyed his surroundings. Vintage neon signs advertised brands he didn't recognize, and the street below was packed with classic cars that belonged in a museum. The people, men in sharp suits with slicked-back hair, looked like they'd stepped out of a period drama.
"Fifties? Sixties? Going to need to ask someone."
What really bothered him was that the cash in his inventory probably wouldn't work here. Different era meant different currency designs.
That's when he noticed someone across the street, a person in a car holding binoculars, either watching him or the building entrance below.
A group of women wearing nothing but lingerie were stepping out of cars, completely unconcerned about the stares they attracted, and walking straight into what appeared to be a club beneath him.
His attention shifted to the car parked by the club entrance. The woman with the binoculars was now starting to undress.
"Does this club require women to strip before entering?"
Finding a spot where no one would notice, he jumped straight down from the two-story building. The drop was nothing to him, not even fall damage.
As he walked toward the club entrance, his clothing drew curious stares from everyone nearby. Even the simplest 21st-century outfit stood out as strange in this era of vintage fashion.
He glanced up at the sign above the door.
"'Atomic'? Nuclear Club? Atom Club? That's a hell of a name."
He followed the woman who'd just gotten out of her car, walking into the club beside her. With her looks, she could easily be a movie star, why work in a place like this?
The woman glanced back at him with a hint of confusion. Mario just smiled, and together they walked through the entrance.
Inside was another door. As he moved to enter, a man at the doorway raised his hand to stop him.
"Sorry, sir. This is a private club. Please show your invitation."
Invitation?
He'd been in this world for maybe ten minutes. How could he possibly have an invitation?
A man in a suit behind him pulled a red invitation card from his pocket, handed it to the doorman, and walked straight through.
Mario still wasn't sure exactly what era he was in, but he did know one thing, he was in Las Vegas. The street he stood on was lined with bars, hotels, banks, and casinos, nothing else.
He glanced at the doorman but didn't argue. He simply turned and walked away. He'd only wanted to go in and "criticize" the establishment anyway. Since he only had gold and no local currency, business would be difficult.
I better exchange some cash first. It makes everything easier.
Leaving the club, he crossed the street to a bank directly opposite. Las Vegas was full of banks, visitors always needed them. The city might lack many things, but it would never be short on banks or casinos.
He pulled out a gold nugget roughly the size of a baby's fist and walked into the bank. Ten minutes later, he emerged carrying a briefcase.
"1962..."
The Marvel universe. At this time, Tony Stark hadn't even been born yet.
Heario wasn't sure what to do next. Should he just head back without accomplishing anything?
As he debated hitting a casino before returning home, a woman suddenly ran out from the club entrance, the same woman who'd been undressing in her car.
Damn, that was fast. There's no way foreplay was even done.
The woman looked flustered, her high heels clicking as she hurried across the street. Under his curious gaze, she got into a parked car and pulled something from the glove compartment.
A landline phone.
Did I not end up in Marvel after all?
The woman, clearly agitated, didn't notice Mario standing nearby. She grabbed the receiver and quickly dialed.
Thanks to the old car's thin construction and his enhanced hearing, he could clearly make out her voice.
"They just disappeared right in front of me."
"No, I'm not high, and I didn't take any drugs. You have to believe me."
"Colonel Hendry was in there, and so was McCone. They're all inside the Hellfire Club."
When Mario heard "Hellfire Club," information clicked into place in his mind.
X-Men: First Class.
It had been years since he'd seen the movie. He couldn't remember the woman's name, only that she was connected to the plot somehow.
The person on the other end, clearly didn't believe her story and hung up abruptly.
"Colonel—"
The woman sighed helplessly and replaced the phone. The man in the driver's seat turned to her. "Are you insane? What do we do now?"
Staring at the Hellfire Club entrance, the woman said calmly, "We're going to find an expert in genetic mutation."