Bruce's paranoia had worsened, but even so, he still nodded in agreement with Wanda's plan.
He stared into Wanda's eyes for a moment, his gaze deep and unreadable, then said, "Alright. I'll go talk to the Ancient One and convince her to hand over the Darkhold."
Not long after the previous Quiz session had ended, Agatha had already been taken care of by the Ancient One, and the Darkhold was sealed away in Kamar-Taj. Now, Batman had to represent the Multiverse Defenders in negotiating with the Ancient One.
Bruce didn't waste time. He dropped that line and turned to leave. Meanwhile, Peter One chatted briefly with Peter Three before decisively purchasing the Snow of Serenity. Everything was ready—they just needed the Darkhold.
During this time, Charles explained his intentions—he hoped the Multiverse Defenders could help rescue the poor mutant children from the future and bring them back to his timeline.
After hearing this, Bruce Banner, like Hank before him, shook his head. "Charles, uh… I've got to say, you're a good man, but this plan of yours is a bit too far-fetched."
"Our portal tech can connect to different worlds, sure, but we can't treat a future timeline as just another parallel universe."
Before Charles Xavier could argue, Tony raised a brow and cut in, "No, I think this could work. If I'm not mistaken, Logan chosen as a player—came from a different timeline, didn't he? Either way, Charles's idea is worth trying."
He thought the rescue mission was cool—and honestly, kind of exciting.
Charles nodded repeatedly at that, and others also voiced their support. Anyone who had seen the future clips couldn't help but feel sympathy for Laura and the mutant kids.
If there was a chance to save them, why not take it?
Bruce Banner frowned. "But how do we even locate that future timeline? That's something we've never done before."
Normally, opening a portal to another world—via a space stone or a multiverse gate—required that the user had seen or been to that world, then simply focused on it in their mind.
But that didn't apply to everything. For instance, the X-Men's world: even though Bruce had seen it through the future clips, he couldn't lock onto it to open a gate.
Eventually, they had found a workaround from the Quiz game itself—leveraging the special connection between players to bridge the gap.
From this, they inferred a general rule: there are countless universes and timelines in the multiverse. Some are closer, some farther. Some walls are thinner, some thicker. The X-Men world was likely farther away, with thicker barriers—thus harder to access.
Given that, trying to locate the X-Men's new future timeline would be even harder.
Bruce gave it a shot—just as expected, nothing happened. He shook his head. "No good. It feels like a void—nothing there."
Charles furrowed his brows. If they couldn't open a gate, then the rescue mission was dead in the water.
That's when Wanda spoke up. "Let me try. Maybe I can use dream-walking later to find that timeline."
Bruce reminded her, "The future clips already showed us—dream-walking isn't a cure-all. Be careful, Wanda."
Just then, a portal opened. The Ancient One and Bruce stepped out together—bringing with them the Darkhold.
After nodding at one another, the Ancient One turned to Wanda with a calm smile. "Once this is over, come visit Kamar-Taj. What do you say?"
Bruce, standing beside her, added in his usual gravelly tone, "Think of it as a little vacation. Some rest and recovery... or, if you prefer, a short supervised therapy session."
Wanda looked at the two of them and didn't object. She took the Darkhold from the Ancient One. Just as she was about to open it, the Ancient One stopped her.
The Darkhold was an ominous tome. Precautions had to be taken. She asked Aunt May to step aside—after all, she was just an ordinary person. It wouldn't be good to drag her into such strange and dangerous business.
Once preparations were complete, Wanda brought out the Snow of Serenity. It wasn't snow at all, but a glowing orb that shimmered with constant light—at first glance, it looked like a dandelion puff suspended in mid-air.
"This really is a rare treasure…"
The Ancient One, with her vast knowledge, couldn't help but admire it. "It's perfect for us. As sorcerers, we've seen too much, touched too many dark things. It's hard to truly find peace."
"It's amazing," Peter Three said, staring in wonder at the glowing 'dandelion'. "It's like lying on a soft bed after a long day, letting your mind go blank, just floating… so light…"
Everyone else looked equally relaxed. That sense of being spiritually cleansed—it was incredible.
"Sorry," Wanda said softly.
Then she opened her mouth and swallowed the 'dandelion'. That was how the Snow of Serenity was used.
The glowing orb melted instantly—or perhaps it never had a true physical form—and turned into an even brighter glow, which wrapped around Wanda, forming a large cocoon of light around her.
But clearly, the cocoon didn't restrict her movements. She could still move freely. She opened the Darkhold.
As she began learning dream-walking magic, tendrils of thick black smoke began to rise—viscous like tar, slowly swirling upward. The onlookers were startled, but the Ancient One made a hand gesture, signaling them to stay calm.
Sure enough, the ominous black mist was soon purified by the warm, milky-white glow surrounding Wanda, unable to touch her.
Everyone watched nervously. Peter Three, unable to hold back, swallowed hard and asked, "What if something goes wrong?"
Tony rolled his eyes. "Could you not jinx it? Even if something goes wrong, we've got plenty of backup here!"
No sooner had he finished speaking than the black smoke suddenly surged, expanding like a balloon and completely blotting out the white light.
Tony shot Peter Three a sharp glare—Seriously? Don't jinx it into reality!
Fortunately, the black smoke didn't last long. It was eventually suppressed by the white glow. Then streaks of crimson light began to flicker in midair, gradually forming a vision of the cosmos—just like when Wanda had used dream-walking in the future videos.
But that wasn't enough. She still needed to search for the exact locations of Pietro, young Peter, and Doctor Strange. Maybe because the three of them were too far apart, Wanda had to expend a lot of effort.
Finally, she said, "Found them!"
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