The shimmering portal closed with a wet, crackling snap, leaving the figure standing silently in the air ten meters away from Leo. The hooded individual was standing casually on a sizzling, glowing disc, the faint scent of ozone accompanying their strange appearance.
Leo immediately folded the Nirvana Golden Wings, hovering motionless, his entire being on high alert. This wasn't a standard S.H.I.E.L.D. or military threat; this felt entirely different, ancient, and undeniably magical.
The figure slowly reached up and removed her hood, revealing a clean, shaven head. The Ancient One, with her gentle yet profoundly intelligent face, looked at Leo not with aggression, but with intense, almost weary caution. Her eyes, however, seemed to bore right through his physical form.
"Hello, Ancient One!"
Leo, recognizing the one person on Earth capable of dealing with cosmic threats, clasped his hands together and executed a slight, respectful bow in mid-air. He maintained an attitude of immediate deference toward the Sorcerer Supreme, who had been protecting the peace of this dimension for centuries.
"Who are you?"
The question was delivered with a heavy stillness that carried more weight than any shout. Leo sensed this was the first time in hundreds of years the Ancient One had truly been compelled to ask that question about an individual.
"You do not know?" Leo asked in return, genuinely confused and a little surprised. He knew the Ancient One possessed the Eye of Agamotto—the Time Stone—and he'd assumed she could see everything about everyone.
"My name is Leo. What does the Ancient One want with me? I was just passing through."
"Who are you, Leo?" she repeated, her voice firm, the question shifting from simple inquiry to a command. "I have never seen you before. You should not exist in this dimension. You are an anomaly that will disrupt the natural order and bring untold variables."
A look of deep weariness appeared in the Ancient One's eyes, but even more profound was the sense of vigilance. She had flown from the Hong Kong sanctuary the moment she sensed Leo's presence—an incredibly potent, fast-moving energy signature—yet she had been unable to see anything about Leo using the Eye of Agamotto. The future, in his presence, dissolved into static.
The sudden, unprecedented existence of Leo had added countless variables to the established, intricate timeline, making the future even more unpredictable for her. The stable paths she relied on for her duty were now shimmering and unstable.
The Ancient One didn't hesitate. She reached out with her palm and struck the space directly in front of her. With a silent impact, countless cracks instantly appeared in the air, shattering the world like a massive mirror.
Leo's Nirvana Golden Wings flared, and he retreated with lightning speed, initiating a Mach 3 reverse burn, but the same mirror fragments had already appeared behind him, closing in. He plunged backward into the shimmering shards.
When Leo tried to pivot and turn back toward the cloud ceiling, he realized he was already trapped inside the Mirror Dimension, surrounded by the infinite, geometric reflections of the Hong Kong skyline. The real world was invisible, untouchable, and undetectable.
The Ancient One appeared opposite Leo, hovering calmly in the dizzying, reflected space, but she showed no intention of attacking.
"Ancient One, what is the meaning of this blatant abduction?" Leo demanded, his speed momentarily useless.
"This is the Mirror Dimension," she explained patiently. "Although it exists, it is undetectable and untouchable to the outside world. What happens here is irrelevant to the true world. It can be used for training, for isolating dangers, and sometimes, for having private conversations."
Leo instinctively responded. Two shimmering metal spikes, extensions of his power, rose silently from his back, pointing menacingly at her.
Gu Yi took two graceful steps forward. "So, who exactly are you? You did not exist in the original timeline. The Eye of Agamotto cannot pierce your veil."
Leo looked at the Sorcerer warily. "Sorcerers have protocols, right? Did you forget to mention that a prisoner can't leave here without a slingshot portal?"
"That's correct. You are far too fast. I can only contain you in the Mirror Dimension. For me, or for anyone, you are far too dangerous to be left unsecured until I understand your intent."
Gu Yi nodded calmly at Leo's assessment. She stretched out her hands, and countless sparks extended into the air, converging into a large, rapidly spinning shield of golden, geometric light that hung defensively in front of her.
"I just want to know your identity and what your purpose is in coming to Earth. I can't even tell if you came from another dimension, although the Temples haven't noticed any major breaches that would account for your power."
"I'm just an Earthling!" Leo insisted, the lie feeling both wronged and technically true.
"But you are a variable." The Ancient One's magic was able to confirm one thing: Leo's soul was entirely human, not demonic or alien, and his current body was indeed native to Earth. She visibly relaxed her stance slightly, allowing her defensive shield to shrink. "If you are truly a human from this Earth, you have been shielded from time itself. What do you want?"
"My origins," Leo stated simply, folding his metal wings and letting them retract back into his skin. He stopped hovering and plummeted wildly for a moment before stopping twenty meters above a bustling street, landing softly on the ground of the mirrored surface.
He looked at the scene below: the dizzying reflections of the crowds, the colorful, familiar Chinese signs, the steam rising from the snack shops not far away, and the familiar chatter of Cantonese. All of this made Leo feel an overwhelming sense of familiarity and profound isolation.
The Ancient One also flew down a short distance away, the magical shield still floating gently in front of her, casting a warm, orange glow on her face.
No one passing by could see the two of them; they continued their lives, shopping, and playing, unaware that a massive confrontation was happening in an invisible reflection just above their heads.
Leo looked at the familiar Chinese characters and, overwhelmed by the feeling of being home in a world that wasn't his, felt his eyes prick with sudden, surprising tears.
'Everyone in the universe speaks English, it's unbelievable. This place, the smell of these streets, it's so much better,' he thought, a wave of homesickness crashing over him.
Gu Yi clearly noticed Leo's raw, emotional reaction and was quite puzzled.
"Ancient One, can't you see it now?" Leo finally spoke, switching easily to perfect, conversational Chinese, a language he hadn't spoken since childhood.
He looked at the steaming hot food not far away—fried noodles, wontons, beef brisket noodles, beef balls, and roast meats—and swallowed hard, the Mirror Dimension isolating him even from the scent.
The Ancient One looked at Leo, who suddenly looked like nothing more than a lost child, and slowly lowered her hands entirely, the shield dissolving. However, her questions remained. Her hundreds of years of combat experience told her that she felt no killing intent from Leo, only immense power and deep longing.
Leo's left hand, which he had been holding protectively, accidentally moved, revealing a faint, almost microscopic shimmer of a Sling Ring on his index finger—a gift from an alternate timeline. The Ancient One's head snapped up.
A portal, crackling with orange light, immediately appeared behind Leo, cutting through the mirrored surface and revealing the dusty street of Kathmandu, Nepal. The Ancient One's calm, measured voice came through, "Leo, I want to talk to you without this distraction. Would you mind coming to Kamar-Taj?"
Leo steadied himself, walked through the portal, and the Sling Ring instantly vanished back into his skin. The portal closed behind him. Leo stood on the bustling, gritty ground in Nepal, and everyone around him seemed perfectly used to the sight of a strange figure appearing from nowhere.
The Ancient One also appeared seconds later, not far from Leo. In an instant, the two had crossed hundreds of kilometers and arrived in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal.
The surrounding disciples bowed respectfully to Gu Yi, saying, "Greetings, Master Gu Yi."
Gu Yi returned the greetings without any of the arrogance or posturing of a mentor.
The Ancient One always held the belief of 'shared wisdom' and 'selfless power,' and this belief permeated and influenced everyone in Kamar-Taj.
A stern-looking man in dark blue robes, Mordo, led Leo into a simple, quiet reception room. He ushered him to a low table, where he poured them both a cup of hot tea with quiet precision.
"Thank you, Venerable Mordo," Leo said instantly, recognizing the man and offering his genuine appreciation.
"Thank you, Venerable Mordo," the Ancient One said at the exact same moment.
The Ancient One became even more intensely curious about Leo's origins. He was polite, powerful, spoke Chinese, and knew the name and title of her most trusted pupil.
After Mordo left, the Ancient One stood opposite Leo, scrutinizing him closely. In her magical perception, Leo was still frustratingly a blurry figure, a contradiction in the weave of time.
"Mr. Leo, you seem to know a great deal about me, about my students, and about places and things that have not yet occurred. Yet, I know nothing about you. I specifically looked into your future, but all I see is a void."
"Did you see the end game?" Leo asked, his voice low, testing the waters.
"The end game?" She paused, processing the term. "A singular, predetermined conclusion for everything? No, Mr. Leo. Time is a torrent of choices. But what I can usually see are the probabilities, the major threats, and the inevitable paths. With you, there is only static."
Gu Yi paused, sipping her tea. "About six years ago, the timeline became disordered. A time tributary that shouldn't have appeared, did. Now, your appearance, Leo, is so abrupt and so powerful that I am forced to question everything I know."
"I'm not even sure if the soul I perceive matches the body and the history I see you living."
As Gu Yi spoke, she slowly walked closer, until she was within five steps of Leo.
Leo was also genuinely puzzled, because he himself did not know his origins.
How did I come into this world? What am I supposed to do? No one guided me, no system told me anything. I've just been following the plots I remember.
Even Leo himself couldn't be truly sure, 'Who am I, really?'
Leo, who had always operated with the confident mindset of his previous life, had never seriously doubted this question, but he could never find the objective, concrete answer.
Trying to get Tony to examine him was to no avail.
Now, even the Ancient One, who possessed the Time Stone and could peer into the fabric of causality, could not know Leo's past.
This made Leo, who had previously been content to just go with the flow and enjoy his new abilities, start thinking about this existential issue again, the comfortable certainty of his life suddenly dissolving.
Taking advantage of Leo's deep, momentary lapse in concentration—a moment of pure human doubt—the Ancient One stepped forward with impossible speed, and struck Leo in the center of the chest with a forceful, focused palm strike.