Marvel: Ned the Master of Mystic Arts

"Don't let Coulson know!"

Nick Fury had already fabricated a glorious tale of heroism for how his left eye got injured in that instant, but the first and foremost step to make that story believable was ensuring Coulson never found out the truth.

"Alright, alright."

Ned chuckled as he tucked away his vibranium phone and said, "Got it."

"What's that? A camera?"

Carol leaned in and whispered, "I just saw some footage in it. It looked like a camera."

"Oh, yeah."

Ned thought he had been subtle, but apparently, Carol had still caught him in the act.

"Make sure to send me a copy of the video."

"Okay, no problem."

Without Nick Fury's knowledge, Ned and Carol successfully struck a friendly agreement. With a wave of his hand, Ned brought Maria's wooden cabin out of the mirror dimension.

"Oh! Director, what happened? How did your eye get like this?"

As soon as Coulson, who had just stepped out of the cabin with Monica while bandaged up, spotted Nick Fury's injured, unbandaged eye, he exclaimed in shock and rushed forward to check on him.

"Motherf— Coulson! You wouldn't believe the cruelty of those aliens. They blinded my eye just because I refused to tell them my name!"

Nick Fury replied to Coulson while simultaneously using his distinct one-eyed gaze to sweep across the people present, signaling them with his eyes not to betray him.

"Here."

After dinner, in the yard's grassy area, Ned handed the Tesseract toward Nick Fury.

"Oh? You're really giving this up?"

Nick Fury raised his eyebrows, hesitating to take the Tesseract. "I heard you used this thing to blow up an alien warship."

"Honestly, even without the Tesseract, I could've done it." Ned tossed the Tesseract in his hand a few times as he spoke.

Truthfully, Ned wasn't interested in this Tesseract, which was essentially the Space Stone, even though he planned to collect the Infinity Stones. After all, he was bound to return to his own world eventually.

If he took this universe's Tesseract with him, it would be like what the Ancient One explained to Bruce Banner when he borrowed the Time Stone.

The Infinity Stones create the flow of time we experience. Removing one stone might benefit Ned, but it could destabilize this universe.

In short, while removing an Infinity Stone might not cause immediate chaos, prolonged absence would undoubtedly lead to disastrous consequences for this world. And if that happened, the responsibility would fall on Ned.

Ned had already made up his mind to visit Kamar-Taj after tonight and ask the Ancient One to send him back to his world.

"Alright."

Nick Fury shrugged and casually picked up a toy model package belonging to Monica. "I heard this thing shouldn't be touched with bare skin."

Ned smirked, reaching out to place the Tesseract inside the makeshift container. The next moment—

BOOM!!!

Just as the Tesseract was about to be placed in the box, it erupted with an intense energy surge. A blue light engulfed Ned in an instant. In the blink of an eye, the blue light dissipated, and the Tesseract fell weakly into the box in Nick Fury's hand. However, Ned was nowhere to be seen.

Clang!

Shaken by the scene before him, Nick Fury dropped the box containing the Tesseract onto the ground.

"Ahhhhhh!!!!"

By the time Ned came to his senses, he was free-falling from a great height once again. He screamed, but thanks to the Cloak of Levitation, he managed to land safely.

He found himself on a massive bridge packed with cars stuck in a traffic jam. Many drivers had already noticed him descending from the sky, but Ned couldn't care less about their reactions because—

"ROAR!!!!!"

A massive, grotesque lizard-like creature let out a deafening roar as it wreaked havoc on the bridge, pushing one car after another out of its way.

"Ahhhhh!!!!"

Terrified by the commotion, people peeked out to see the monster, screamed in horror, and fled their vehicles to run as far away as they could.

"Alright…"

Ned's face darkened as an expression of utter exasperation took over.

He had no idea where the Tesseract had sent him, but as someone who could barely pass as a superhero, Ned couldn't just stand by and let innocent civilians get hurt.

"Here I come!!"

Just as Ned was about to make his move, a loud shout interrupted him.

A red figure swung down from above, delivering a powerful kick that sent the monstrous lizard flying several meters away.

With his sharp eyesight, Ned could clearly see a nearly invisible strand of webbing attached to the iron frame above the bridge.

This thread was the key to why the figure could swing through the air.

"Pe...Peter?"

The Amazing Spider-Man, Peter Parker, was about to follow up with another attack when he froze mid-motion. He turned his head stiffly to face the voice that had called out to him.

Ned looked at the iconic red-and-blue-suited Spider-Man and tentatively called out his name.

With a lizard monster and Spider-Man in front of him, Ned instantly realized where the Tesseract had sent him.

"Who are you?"

Spider-Man stared at the mysterious figure in the eerie mask and vintage outfit, calling out in confusion.

After all, Peter wore his suit to protect his identity and shield Aunt May from potential threats.

But this stranger had just called him by his real name! Yet Peter didn't recognize him at all.

"I... I'm Ned, also known as the Mystic Sorcerer. No time for questions, let's deal with this monster first!"

Realizing he shouldn't have blurted out Peter's name in such a public place, Ned quickly corrected himself. Right now, the priority was stopping Dr. Connors.

"Alright!"

Peter, though still wary of Ned, had to admit he was right. Nodding, he rushed toward the Lizard once more.

BAM!

"ROAR!!!"

Peter landed another solid kick to the Lizard's face, causing it to stagger.

Enraged, the Lizard roared and swiped furiously at Peter with its claws. Since Peter had only recently gained his powers, he wasn't as skilled as he would be later.

As a result, he struggled to find an opening to counterattack, relying instead on his Spidey Sense to dodge the Lizard's relentless assaults.

If Peter had been alone, he might have been at a stalemate. But he wasn't alone—Ned, the unexpected ally, was there.

WHOOSH!

A glowing magical whip suddenly lashed out, wrapping around the Lizard's neck.

"RAWR!!!"

The Lizard thrashed wildly, trying to tear off the golden whip. Peter seized the opportunity to leap high into the air and deliver a powerful kick, sending the creature plummeting off the bridge.

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