The Ancient One, having lived for centuries, quickly turned her gaze away from the flashy lace materials. Unlike other won, she wasn't interested in such frills.
"The deal is this: if you accept this responsibility, the Cloak of Levitation will be yours permanently. When I pass, the Eye of Agamotto will also co into your possession, and all the sorcerers of Kamar-Taj will follow your commands."
The Ancient One calmly laid out her offer, watching Su Ming as he continued to down his drink, waiting for his response.
Su Ming pondered the pros and cons.
The Ti Stone was secondary; he didn't use white magic, nor did he have the Infinity Gauntlet. It would just be a trinket in his hands, and trying to power it with X-tal might cause more trouble than it's worth.
But the Cloak of Levitation—that was non-negotiable for Su Ming.
Yet he had no desire to carry the burden. The responsibility of being the Sorcerer Supre could crush anyone.
Seeing his hesitation, the Ancient One added, "You weren't originally from this world, but you're still a human from Earth. So, I imagine that sotis you might want to return to where you ca from. I can teach you how to traverse the omniverse."
Warm sunlight filled the office, and the whiskey in Su Ming's glass ceased its swirling.
"Deal."
He thought it best to keep the Ancient One happy for now. When she eventually passed away, he could serve as Sorcerer Supre for a few days and then quickly bring in Strange as his replacent.
No deception—just a fair exchange.
The Ancient One made a gesture, and the visage of the Vishanti's trinity suddenly appeared before them. Rays of light shot from their six eyes, illuminating the two, and then quickly faded.
"The contract is sealed, Slade. The Vishanti have witnessed everything," the Ancient One said with a sigh of relief, smiling.
Damn it.
Su Ming felt like he had been tricked. He thought it was just a verbal agreent, but now that the Vishanti had witnessed it, even if he wanted to dump the role on Doctor Strange later, how could he undo this appointnt?
And he didn't know magic—how was he supposed to call on the Vishanti? Make a phone call?
Annoying. Why do all sorcerers love to trap people like this?
The Ancient One, oblivious to Su Ming's internal complaints, couldn't read his thoughts. But she considered this a good thing, as it ant that other-dinsional enemies wouldn't be able to read him either.
"Now, I'll teach you the thod to traverse universes."
The Ancient One gestured, and the Cloak of Levitation flew over. She took the gem that Su Ming had previously given to the cloak and pressed it against the fabric, chanting a long string of incantations.
The gem gradually lted into the cloak, glowing briefly before vaporizing entirely, as if it had never existed.
She withdrew her hands, inspecting the cloak with satisfaction. "If the user is a sorcerer, they could use incantations to gain various enhancents—like breathing in space or traveling quickly between worlds. Using your gem as a power source, I've imbued these abilities into the Cloak. Now, you just need to express your intent, and it will follow your will."
Su Ming nodded, pushing thoughts of the Sorcerer Supre aside for now. The Ancient One could live another seventy or eighty years—he had plenty of ti to find a workaround.
With the cloak now upgraded, even if Su Ming didn't fully understand the details, it seed to be a kind of enchantnt or magical inscription.
In any case, he could now use the ti-space device to return to the DC Universe and collect from Batman.
The Ancient One stood up, adjusted her robes, and opened a portal with a wave of her hand. "I have matters to attend to at Kamar-Taj. I must leave."
"Wait, you're really leaving without even having a al? Gin, pack up the makeup and clothes for the Sorcerer Supre. Take them all back to try out."
Su Ming didn't care if she wanted them or not—he bundled up the lingerie, stockings, and makeup, stuffing them into the Ancient One's hands, and pushed her through the portal.
With a resigned expression, the Ancient One vanished on the other side of the doorway.
Su Ming imdiately began preparations. He changed into his uniform, ard himself with his usual weapons, took the Godslayer 47, and donned the cloak.
"Alright, cloak, let's see you change colors. How about a nice black for once?"
The cloak reluctantly turned black, keeping its usual style but now appearing more ominous.
"Not bad. Now, activate that 'Astral Breath' thing." Su Ming patted the cloak approvingly, then used a dagger to cut his own arm. "Gin, keep an eye on the company. I'm going out to collect so debts and spend a few days with so friends. Be back soon."
With that, he pressed the glowing point on the gem and vanished from the office.
Gin rubbed his forehead and sighed. He still had things he needed to discuss...
In the blink of an eye, Su Ming found himself in the multiverse, where countless different superhero worlds floated like bubbles around him.
He turned to look behind him, at the boundary of the multiverse.
He recognized his world, now different from how it was when he first arrived. Beyond the six bright points, a black-and-yellow symbol had begun to appear on the world's outer shell.
Changing history back to its original path was impossible now, but the world was shifting in the direction Su Ming desired.
After defeating Kang, Su Ming had taken over the tiline. To allow the world to heal from its past wounds, he needed to step away for a while.
"This will be my universe from now on." Su Ming floated quietly in the dark void of space, feeling a strange sense of satisfaction. "I don't know what your multiverse designation is, but from now on, you're Earth-40K."
Su Ming extended his hand as if tracing a 'W' onto a distant bubble, then turned away, heading towards the larger universe beyond.
Though it had taken quite so ti, battling Kang was never going to be a quick affair. Now, with a new tiline and a new future on the horizon, he would return soon enough to see the results.
Flying with the help of the cloak, Su Ming thought over these matters with a light heart.
On a distant planet, a group of large-headed beings—the Watchers—gathered, stunned by Su Ming's actions. Soone was traveling through the universe with their physical body, seemingly intent on entering the omniverse.
"Madness! Does he even know what's out there in the omniverse?"
"Shh, be careful he doesn't hear us. People like him are usually insane."
"Quiet down! We are observers of the multiverse, not interveners. Our mission is to record and observe, nothing more."
The journey was long. The speed of the Cloak of Levitation was impressive, countless stars passing by. Yet compared to the speed when Doctor Manhattan had thrown him into the void, it still felt much slower.
But Su Ming didn't mind. Though it wasn't the most convenient, it was still a path forward.
A highway or a winding road—it didn't matter; Su Ming was on his way to collect what he was owed, a smile on his face.
Stranglehold, too, was excited, sending joyful thoughts into Su Ming's mind. It was eager to see a completely different universe, to et its inhabitants, or perhaps... a new world.
"If I return to the sa ti and place I left, there's a fifty-fifty chance of that happening. But if I do, I'll make it in ti for the Justice League's party, and I won't have to face the Oga Four right away.
"I can eat and drink at Wayne Manor, collect what I'm owed, and then negotiate my fee for handling the next crisis with Batman."
Su Ming had his plan. If things worked out that way, he knew how to handle the Oga Four. Those beasts might be powerful, but they weren't particularly smart.
Deal with the Four, deal with Brainiac, and then extort both him and the Justice League.
It would be a clean sweep.
That had been Su Ming's plan all along.
However, as he crossed the Source Wall and passed through the massive gap in its surface, he realized he was too late...
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