Kamar-Taj.
The Sorcerer Supreme, Ancient One, sat cross-legged in the void.
The Eye of Agamotto on her chest slowly opened, and the timestone began to emanate a mysterious power.
A stream of magic surrounded her, and a thin line of energy emerged from the timestone.
After a moment, the Eye of Agamotto slowly closed, concealing the Time Stone once again.
"Why has the timeline changed so drastically?" the Ancient muttered to herself.
"The world has changed with the rise of Ultron and the awakening of the Scarlet Witch! The timeline is undergoing major changes!"
"Who could be responsible?" The Ancient One was confused.
With the Time Stone, she could see the future whenever she wanted, but now the future kept shifting.
"I want to see who you are."
As the guardian of the Time Stone, she could not allow such disturbances. The Eye of Agamotto opened once more, and she watched the flow of time, scanning through long events. Finally, at the end of time, she saw him.
A man, casually dressed, stood with his back to the Ancient One. The Earth was destroyed, and in the starry sky were powerful beings so terrifying that the Ancient One felt the urge to bow before them.
Even Dormammu seemed as insignificant as an ant in their presence. Bodies were strewn everywhere: the Avengers, Scarlet Witch, even Stephen Strange, who lay cut in half alongside others she did not recognize.
But only this man faced the ancient beings. In an instant, he caught the Ancient One's gaze. The man turned around.
"Huh? Ancient One?" he asked, his voice calm.
"He found me?" The Ancient One was shocked. She had only seen a possible future - how could these beings find her?
And this man had called her by name. She felt a foreboding sense that she was no longer observing the future, but somehow becoming a part of it.
"You came too soon," the man said, sounding almost regretful.
"It's too dangerous here; you shouldn't be here." He extended his hand, and a colorful light enveloped her. As it disappeared, she heard a faint voice from beyond.
"Chu Mo, join us or face death!"
Back in Kamar-Taj, the Ancient One sat trembling, beads of sweat on her forehead.
The experience had been harrowing. If that man hadn't sent her back, she might have died. But she had caught a crucial detail.
"Chu Mo!" she whispered, thinking about the name.
"Who is Chu Mo? And what does that battlefield mean?"
Stephen was still only a doctor. According to the timeline, it would be another three years before he came to Kamar-Taj.
But now everything seemed different. She looked down at the Eye of Agamotto and her heart stopped - an incredibly small crack appeared on the Time Stone inside.
"Ah!" The Ancient One was startled. What had happened? How could there be a crack in the Time Stone?
"Could it have been caused by seeing the end of time?" The realization sent shivers down her spine.
She considered consulting Vishanti in the highest dimension, but she hesitated.
The power of the beings she had witnessed was billions of times stronger than even Vishanti.
"Chu Mo, the Avengers, Scarlet Witch... and some unexplained corpses," she muttered.
"I'll start with the Avengers. They may be connected to this man."
The Ancient One twisted her fingers, and a yellow portal to Stark Tower opened. She stepped through and appeared beside an outdoor pool where a man and a woman were playing in the water.
The woman had a great figure, with fair skin and short, claret hair.
The Ancient One recognized her at once: Natasha, a member of the Avengers. The man, shirtless and with his back turned, looked strangely familiar.
Natasha lifted her head, her body trembling slightly with satisfaction. After a moment, she rested her head on the man's chest, obviously exhausted.
The Ancient frowned. She recognized what had just happened. She was well aware of human intimacy.
"Master, I can't take it anymore," Natasha murmured in a tone of surrender.
"Is that all? As a maid, there's still room for improvement!" the man teased.
Hearing his voice, the Ancient's frown deepened. It was familiar, but she couldn't quite place it.
Taking a step closer, Natasha suddenly looked around, instinctively scanning her surroundings.
She caught sight of the Ancient One, let out a startled gasp, and dove underwater.
"What's going on?" the man asked, turning to see who had startled Natasha.
The man stopped when he saw the Ancient One standing there in her yellow robe, the Eye of Agamotto hanging from her neck.
"Ancient One?" he asked in surprise.
The Ancient One looked into his face and felt a chill. It was him. The same man who had sent her back from the distant battlefield.
"Chu Mo?" she whispered in surprise.
"Huh? You know me?" Chu Mo was taken aback. This could not be right - she was not supposed to know of his presence in this world.
His eyes flickered to the Eye of Agamotto on her chest. "Did that old woman see me through the timeline?"
But why had she come here? He was truly perplexed. However, he was also aware that she was the most powerful sorcerer on Earth, and confronting her might not be in his favor.
"Master Ancient One, what brings you here?" Chu Mo asked, hiding his concern.
If he couldn't handle her, he could always flee at superluminal speed, which even she might have trouble catching.
The Ancient one hesitated. Why was she really here? She had unwittingly intruded on someone's private time - a rare lapse in her manners.
"Nothing... I just wanted to see you," she replied, feeling strangely embarrassed.
'Why is this woman here, and at a time like this?* Chu Mo thought, confused. 'Could she...?'
A strange thought crossed his mind: Was it possible that she, too, longed for companionship?
Even the most powerful wizards are still human, and isolation can lead to certain... urges.
'Could she be... interested in me?'
Chu Mo cringed at the thought.
"Don't worry, I didn't see anything," the Ancient one said, sensing his thoughts.
'She can read my mind!' Chu Mo was shocked.
"No, I can't," she replied, directly denying it.
"Uh..." Chu Mo was speechless.