Stevan phased back through the invisible stone wall of the Tower of Fate. He stepped out of the freezing Massachusetts woods and into the warm, glowing, giant magical library.
He walked over to the floating golden table in the center of the room and dropped his four heavy plastic grocery bags onto it.
"Home sweet home," Stevan said, rubbing his cold hands together.
He unpacked the bags. He put the milk and deli meat into the mini-fridge in his bedroom. Then, he grabbed a box of frozen pepperoni pizza. He brought it back out to the floating table.
Stevan looked at the frozen pizza, and then he looked at the golden Helmet of Fate sitting on a nearby chair.
"Okay, Nabu," Stevan said. "I need your help. I don't have an oven. How do I cook this without turning the whole Tower into a volcano?"
"You wish to use the ancient power of the Lords of Order... to heat up a flat disc of frozen bread and cheese?" Nabu's voice echoed in Stevan's mind. The ancient god sounded like he was losing his patience.
"Yes, I do," Stevan smiled. "A hero has to eat. What is the spell for 'medium heat for twelve minutes'?"
Nabu let out a deep, magical sigh. "Put the helmet on, Stevan."
Stevan picked up the heavy gold helmet and slid it over his head. Instantly, the gray hoodie and jeans changed back into his bright blue and gold magical armor. The yellow Cloak of Destiny settled on his shoulders. He felt the huge rush of power fill his body.
"Hold your hand over the food," Nabu instructed. "Do not say any words. Words of fire are for battle. They will turn your food to ash. Instead, focus on the Amulet of Anubis. Think of a warm summer sun. Push a tiny, very tiny, amount of that warmth into the food."
Stevan held his glowing golden glove over the frozen pizza. He closed his eyes behind the mask. He thought of a warm sunny day at the beach. He pushed just a tiny drop of magic out of his fingers.
A soft, orange light shined from his glove. The light covered the pizza.
Instantly, the frozen cheese started to bubble. The crust turned a perfect, crispy brown. The smell of hot pepperoni filled the giant magical room.
Stevan stopped the magic and pulled his hand back.
"Wow," Stevan said, looking at the perfectly cooked pizza. "That is the best microwave in the universe. Thanks, Nabu."
"Do not mention it," Nabu said dryly. "Now, sit. Eat your heated cheese disc quickly. We have much reading to do."
Stevan lifted the helmet off his head so he could eat. He grabbed a hot slice of pizza and sat down on one of the floating golden cushions.
He looked around the massive, crazy room. Candles floated in the air. Stairs went upside down on the ceiling. Giant glowing books hummed on the shelves. He was sitting in a magic tower, eating pizza, after stealing an Infinity Stone from Nick Fury.
His life was definitely not boring anymore.
__________________
Two days later, the woods outside of Salem were completely quiet.
It had snowed the night before. A thick blanket of pure white snow covered the trees and the ground. The only sound was the wind blowing through the pine needles.
Suddenly, a small pile of snow shifted.
It wasn't an animal. It was Natasha Romanoff, the Black Widow.
She was wearing a special, skin-tight white winter combat suit. It made her completely invisible against the snow. She moved through the woods without making a single sound. She didn't snap any branches, and her soft boots barely left any footprints. She was a master spy, and she was hunting.
Nick Fury had sent her to find the Gold Wizard. The S.H.I.E.L.D. satellites had picked up his energy signature right here in these woods.
Natasha crouched behind a large oak tree. She pulled a small, black scanner device from her belt. The screen glowed faintly in the dark woods.
The scanner was going crazy. The needle was bouncing off the top of the screen.
"I'm at the coordinates, Director," Natasha whispered into a tiny microphone hidden in her ear.
"What do you see, Romanoff?" Fury's voice answered in her earpiece.
Natasha peeked around the tree. She looked at the giant, empty, snowy field in front of her.
"I see a whole lot of nothing," Natasha whispered. "Just an empty field. No buildings, no bunkers, no giant gold wizards."
"The satellites don't lie," Fury said. "The energy spike happened exactly in the center of that field. Look closer."
Natasha narrowed her eyes. She slowly stepped out from behind the tree. She walked toward the edge of the field, her eyes scanning the ground.
Then, she saw it.
Under a thin layer of fresh snow, there were footprints. They were the shape of normal, flat-bottomed sneakers. She followed the footprints with her eyes. They led from the road, through the trees, and straight into the middle of the empty field.
But right in the dead center of the field, the footprints just stopped. They didn't turn around. They didn't walk away. They just ended.
Natasha frowned. People did not just vanish into thin air.
She walked carefully following the footprints. She stopped right where the last footprint was pressed into the snow.
She looked straight ahead. The air looked perfectly normal. But Natasha's spy instincts told her something was wrong. The wind was blowing the snow across the field, but right in front of her, the snowflakes seemed to stop falling. It was like they were hitting an invisible wall and sliding down.
Natasha reached down and picked up a handful of snow. She packed it into a tight, hard snowball.
She threw the snowball straight ahead.
Smack!
The snowball did not fly across the empty field. It hit something solid in the thin air, just three feet in front of her. The snowball exploded into white powder and slid down an invisible, flat surface.
Natasha took a step back. Her hand slowly moved to the gun holstered on her leg.
"Director," Natasha whispered, her voice very serious. "I found it. There is a massive, invisible structure here. It has a cloaking shield. A very good one."
"Can you find a door?" Fury asked.
"I'm going to look," Natasha said.
___________________
Inside the Tower of Fate, Stevan was floating upside down near the ceiling.
He was wearing the Helmet of Fate. He was practicing a levitation spell, trying to read a glowing blue scroll while hanging upside down like a bat. It was very difficult. Blood was rushing to his head.
Suddenly, the golden mask flashed with a red warning light.
"Alert," Nabu's voice boomed in Stevan's mind. "Someone is touching the outer barrier of the Tower."
Stevan flipped right-side up and floated gently down to the floor. "Someone is out there? Is it a lost hiker?"
"No," Nabu said. "It is a highly trained mortal. She carries weapons. She is searching for a way inside."
Stevan closed his eyes. Because he was wearing the helmet and he was inside the Tower, he could feel everything connected to his magic. He reached his mind out to the invisible wall outside.
His magical vision showed him a heat signature standing in the snowy field. It was a woman in a white suit.
"Black Widow," Stevan said, recognizing her instantly. "Nick Fury sent a spy to check on us."
"She is an agent of Chaos and secrets," Nabu warned. "She seeks to steal our knowledge. I can banish her to the Shadow Realm. Or I can turn the ground beneath her feet into quicksand."
"Whoa, hold on, Nabu!" Stevan said quickly. "We are not banishing an Avenger to a Shadow Realm! She's a good one. She's just doing her job. Nick Fury is probably terrified because I took the scepter."
"Mortal spies do not belong in the sanctuary of Order."
"Maybe not," Stevan agreed. "But if we attack her, S.H.I.E.L.D. will send an army. Then they will send Iron Man and Captain America. We don't want to fight the Avengers. I'm going to go talk to her. Be polite."
"Politeness is a mortal weakness," Nabu grumbled.
"It's called diplomacy," Stevan smiled under the mask. "Let's go say hi."
Stevan smoothed out his bright yellow cape. He made sure he looked tall and scary. Then, he walked toward the solid stone wall of the Tower.
_________________
Outside in the cold, Natasha was running her gloved hands over the invisible wall.
It was completely smooth. It felt like cold marble, but she couldn't see it. She had walked twenty feet to the left and twenty feet to the right. The wall just kept going. It was a giant, round building.
"There are no doors, Director," Natasha whispered into her earpiece. "No hinges, no keyholes, no heat vents. It's perfectly sealed."
"Try a low-level explosive," Fury ordered. "See if you can crack the illusion."
Natasha reached into her belt to grab a small bomb.
Before her hand could touch the bomb, the air right in front of her started to glow.
Natasha jumped back instantly. She pulled two small, deadly pistols from her holsters and aimed them right at the glowing light.
A tall, rectangular outline of bright golden magic appeared in the empty air. It looked like a door made of pure light. The golden door slowly swung open.
Standing in the doorway, glowing brightly against the dark, snowy woods, was Doctor Fate.
The bright blue suit, the heavy gold belt, the Amulet of Anubis shining on his chest, and the featureless golden helmet staring right at her. He looked like an ancient god stepping out of a myth.
Natasha didn't blink. She kept her guns aimed right at the center of his golden helmet.
"Hello, Agent Romanoff," Stevan's deep, echoing, double-voice broke the silence of the woods.
Natasha was a master spy. She never showed surprise. But on the inside, she was shocked. How does he know my name? she thought.
"Put your hands where I can see them," Natasha ordered in a cold, professional voice.
Stevan did not raise his hands. He just stood there calmly.
"It is freezing out here, Agent Romanoff," Stevan said. "And standing in the snow with guns pointed at me is not very polite. I just made some hot tea. Would you like to come inside?"
In Natasha's earpiece, she heard Nick Fury's voice. "Romanoff. Do not engage. If he is inviting you in, take the invitation. Get eyes on the inside. Find out what he is hiding."
Natasha slowly lowered her guns. She clicked the safeties on and put them back in her holsters.
"I like tea," Natasha said evenly.
Stevan stepped back and motioned with his golden glove for her to enter.
Natasha walked carefully forward. She stepped through the glowing golden doorway.
When she crossed the line, she felt a strange, cold tingle run all over her body. The freezing wind of the woods instantly vanished. The sound of the snow stopped.
She looked around. Her spy brain, trained to analyze every room she walked into, suddenly completely froze.
The inside of the invisible building was impossible.
She was standing in a massive, warm, cavernous room. Floating candles hung in the air like stars. Thousands of books lined the walls. But the stairs... the stairs were going sideways. A wooden chair was stuck to the ceiling. The giant hourglass in the center of the room had sand falling up.
It defied every law of physics she had ever learned.
"Welcome to the Tower of Fate," Stevan said, pulling the golden door shut behind her. The door vanished, turning back into a solid stone wall.
Natasha forced herself to stop staring at the upside-down stairs. She looked at the golden wizard.
"Nice place," Natasha lied smoothly, hiding how uncomfortable the magic made her feel. "Who is your decorator? M.C. Escher?"
Stevan chuckled. It sounded weird coming out of the featureless golden helmet. "I said the exact same thing when I first saw it. Please, sit."
Stevan waved his hand. A large, comfortable leather chair slid across the stone floor all by itself and stopped right behind Natasha. She sat down slowly, keeping her eyes on him.
Stevan floated up into the air and sat cross-legged on a hovering golden cushion across from her. Between them floated a small wooden table. On the table was a steaming teapot and two small cups.
Stevan poured a cup of tea and slid it across the floating table to her.
Natasha didn't touch it. "I don't usually drink things given to me by strangers in invisible towers."
"That is a very smart rule," Stevan said. He reached up and grabbed the golden fin of his helmet. "But we are not strangers. We fought on the same side in New York."
Stevan pulled the heavy golden helmet off his head.
The magical blue and gold suit instantly turned into a pair of gray sweatpants and a baggy sweater.
Natasha blinked.
She remembered the blurry photo from the shawarma restaurant. But seeing it in person was different. The scary, deep-voiced god of magic was gone. Sitting across from her was just a young, messy-haired guy who looked like he had been studying for tests all night.
"Hi," Stevan said in his normal, human voice. "I'm Stevan."
_________________
Natasha looked Stevan up and down. She was an expert at reading people. She looked for signs of lying, anger, or danger. But this kid just looked tired and friendly.
"You're a lot younger than I expected, Stevan," Natasha said, finally picking up the teacup. She took a tiny sip. It was chamomile. Very calming.
"Magic is tricky like that," Stevan smiled, rubbing his tired eyes. "So, did Nick Fury send you to arrest me, or just to spy on me?"
Natasha didn't flinch. "S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn't like loose ends. You showed up out of nowhere, used power we don't understand, and then stole a highly dangerous alien weapon from our custody. Director Fury is naturally a little nervous."
Stevan leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. He looked serious now.
"I didn't steal it, Natasha. I secured it," Stevan said. "Nick Fury wanted to use Loki's scepter to make weapons. You know this. S.H.I.E.L.D. was making weapons out of the Tesseract, and that's what brought the Chitauri to Earth. If Fury plays with the scepter, he will cause another disaster. Maybe worse."
Natasha knew he was right. She had seen the secret S.H.I.E.L.D. weapon plans herself during the Avengers crisis.
"S.H.I.E.L.D. exists to protect the world," Natasha defended her boss. "We need to understand threats so we can fight them."
"Some threats cannot be understood by science," Stevan said softly. "The stone inside that scepter... it is an Infinity Stone. It has a mind of its own. It twists people. It makes them do terrible things. Even a strong mind like Dr. Selvig or Hawkeye couldn't fight it."
Natasha frowned slightly at the mention of Clint. Loki had mind-controlled her best friend, turning him into a killer for a few days. It was a sore subject.
"And you think you are strong enough to hold it?" Natasha challenged him.
"I don't hold it," Stevan said, pointing to the golden Helmet of Fate resting on the table. "He does. Nabu. A Lord of Order. The magic of this Tower keeps the scepter locked in a pocket dimension. It is completely asleep. It cannot hurt anyone ever again. As long as the Tower stands, the world is safe from it."
Natasha looked at the golden helmet. Even just sitting on the table, she could feel a strange, heavy energy coming from it. It made the hairs on her arms stand up.
"Romanoff," Fury's voice crackled in her ear. "Ask him who he works for. What is his objective?"
Natasha took another sip of tea. "So, Stevan. What is your goal? Are you planning to conquer the world? Join the Avengers? Fight crime in the streets?"
"I don't care about bank robbers," Stevan said honestly. "And I don't want to rule anything. My job... Doctor Fate's job... is to protect the balance. When the universe is threatened by huge, cosmic chaos, I step in. If aliens invade, or demons attack, or someone tries to destroy reality, I will be there."
"And if S.H.I.E.L.D. comes to take the scepter back?" Natasha asked, her eyes narrowing.
Stevan looked right into Natasha's eyes. The friendly, tired college kid was suddenly gone. For a second, a bright flash of pure gold sparked deep in Stevan's brown eyes.
"If S.H.I.E.L.D. comes here with guns," Stevan said, his voice dropping an octave, sounding a little bit like Nabu, "I will turn their guns into butterflies. If they bring tanks, I will turn the tanks into water. No mortal army can break the Tower of Fate. Tell Nick Fury to leave me alone. Let me read my books. Let me protect the world my way. If he tries to force me, he will lose."
The threat wasn't angry. It was just a cold, absolute fact.
Natasha felt a tiny chill run down her spine. She had faced monsters and assassins, but this was different. This boy had the power of a god, and he knew exactly how to use it.
"Message received," Natasha said. She placed the empty teacup back on the floating table. She stood up. "Thank you for the tea, Stevan."
Stevan smiled, the golden spark vanishing from his eyes. He stood up too. "You're welcome, Natasha. You are always welcome in the Tower. But tell Fury to stop sending satellites to scan my house. It gives the magic a headache."
Stevan walked over to the stone wall and waved his hand. The glowing golden door appeared again.
Natasha walked to the door. She stopped and looked back at Stevan one last time.
"For a guy with unlimited cosmic power," Natasha said softly, "you really need to get some sleep. You have dark circles under your eyes."
"Studying magic is hard work," Stevan laughed. "Have a safe trip back to New York."
Natasha stepped through the golden door. Instantly, the freezing wind of the Massachusetts woods hit her face.
She turned around, but the golden door was gone. The invisible wall was back.
"Romanoff, report," Fury said in her ear. "Did you get a layout of the base? Did you find the scepter?"
Natasha started walking back through the snow, heading toward where her hidden jet was parked.
"Director," Natasha said, pulling her white hood up. "Call off the search. Cancel the satellite scans."
"Excuse me?" Fury said angrily. "Did he brainwash you?"
"No, sir," Natasha said calmly. "He made me tea. But I am telling you right now... you cannot fight him. The building is a magical fortress. It breaks the laws of physics. And the kid inside has enough power to wipe us off the map without breaking a sweat. He is keeping the scepter safe. Leave him alone."
There was a long silence on the radio. Nick Fury hated not being in control. But he also trusted the Black Widow's judgment more than anyone else's.
"Fine," Fury finally grumbled. "But keep a file open on him. If Doctor Fate sneezes, I want to know about it."
Natasha smiled slightly as she walked through the dark, snowy woods.
"Understood, Director."
Back inside the Tower, Stevan let out a huge breath and fell back onto his golden cushion.
"Well," Stevan said to Nabu. "That went pretty well, don't you think?"
"You offered our enemy a hot beverage," Nabu sighed. "Your mortal habits are truly baffling. Now, put the helmet back on. You still have three books to read before you sleep."
Stevan groaned, picked up the heavy gold helmet, and got back to work.