Steam filled the small bathroom as Daniel let the hottest water possible cascade over him. Even though it was summer, he'd cranked the faucet to the max and stood under the spray, soaking in the simple comfort that he hadn't felt in decades.
It hit him how rare this was. In Jotunheim, even the idea of a hot shower would've been impossible—everything was frozen, all the time. You could forget about warm water; even trying to bathe meant ice, or nothing at all. If he hadn't had magic, he'd have ended up a frostbitten statue long ago.
But those harsh years had made him tough. He'd learned to survive in that brutal cold, and by the end, his body and his magic were both stronger than ever—he'd become a true Legendary Mage.
Now, though, all that seemed distant. Daniel's scars and calluses stung under the hot water, but his mind was busy with what he'd learned earlier from Betty Ross.
Betty had filled him in on what was happening in the world. Tony Stark had only recently made headlines—kidnapped in Afghanistan, escaping with his Mark I suit, then taking control of his company again. The Stark Expo was in the works and, so far, nothing huge had happened yet. Daniel figured he'd landed in the early days of the Marvel Universe, before the world-shaking battles that were coming.
Thor and Loki hadn't caused chaos in Jotunheim—at least not yet. Thor's banishment to Earth was likely still a few years off.
But Daniel knew he couldn't avoid the big players forever. So long as he was back in the Nine Realms, Heimdall would notice whenever he used the Bifrost, and Odin's reach was never far away. He could easily end up crossing paths with Thor, which could quickly get dangerous.
"Thanks a lot, Odin," Daniel muttered as the water thudded on his face. "You didn't have to drag the rest of us into your son's problems."
He didn't kid himself about his own power. Sure, he'd survived Jotunheim with grit and the magic he'd picked up there. On Earth, though, he was limited. Magic here just wasn't as strong—he could operate at the top end of what a normal mage could do, but that was it. He'd hold his own against someone like Wolverine in a fight, but against someone like Professor X or Magneto? He'd be lucky to escape alive.
But there was a silver lining. Earth's magic "inertia" worked both ways: it limited gods and legends just as much as it did him. That's why Thor didn't totally overpower Earth's strongest mutants, and why Loki's tricks weren't as fearsome here as in other realms. Even Thanos would have to work harder if he ever showed up early.
If Daniel wanted his powers back at their peak, he'd need to find a new source—something big and powerful. The Tesseract crossed his mind. It had once pulled him into Jotunheim, and its energy was off the charts, but keeping it would be nearly impossible.
He weighed other possibilities: the Mind Stone, still years from surfacing; the Reality Stone, hidden deep in the cosmos; the Power Stone, out of reach for now; and the Time Stone, which was probably already under the Sorcerer Supreme's protection.
There might also be Earth-made options: the engine that created Captain Marvel, or one of Tony Stark's Arc Reactors. With enough patience, Daniel thought, he could work his way to one of those, especially with the upcoming Stark Expo.
For now, the real surprise was Betty Ross herself. The photo on her desk, showing her with General Ross, left no doubt about her identity.
But she didn't remember Bruce Banner. That wasn't just normal forgetfulness—something, or someone, had messed with her mind. Daniel could feel the trace of a magical block when he gently prodded her soul with his senses.
It looked deliberate.
If Bruce had still been around, Betty would have been under close watch by the military. But now she had no recollection of him at all. Daniel guessed her father had done something drastic to help her—or maybe to sever her last connection to the man she'd loved.
Banner's location was unknown. He could be on the run somewhere far away. Daniel didn't care about chasing him down. His priority was to get back everything he'd left behind.
Fresh from the shower, Daniel found clean clothes folded on the table. Men's clothes.
"They're my ex's," Betty explained, sounding distant. "Please don't stay longer than you have to."
Daniel looked at the clothes, then at her. A quick shave and a little effort had made him look almost normal again. He was no model, but he had a rugged, athletic vibe that held its own—nothing to be ashamed of next to her ex.
Betty was clearly second-guessing the whole thing—she was the kind of person who never brought strangers home.
Daniel just shrugged with a faint grin. "No problem. I'll head out. But I need to make a call first."
He started towards the phone.
Betty hesitated, then blurted, "Can I ask you something?"
"Sure." Daniel picked up the receiver.
She was still thinking about what she'd witnessed. Maybe it was magic that made her keep him around, or maybe it was something she couldn't even remember—some old instinct.
"So, are you really a magician? And that man I saw earlier—he was one too, wasn't he? Could you… teach me?"
Daniel raised an eyebrow. "You're too old for that."
Betty's face tightened. "Nobody wants to hear that," she snapped. "You just ruined the whole mysterious-wizard thing you had going on."
"How old are you, anyway?" she shot back, suddenly suspicious.
"Older than you, by a lot," Daniel said, already dialing. "Don't ask."
He waited as the line rang.
This was the number for his strongest backup—a secret group Daniel had set up before getting trapped in Jotunheim. There were different layers to his plans—some public, some buried in far-off places. But this was the deepest, most secure backup he had. They knew secrets. They had leverage. And Daniel had set every safeguard to make sure no one could betray him.
The phone kept ringing. No answer.
He hung up, planning to try again later.
Turning around, Daniel noticed Betty was gone. A moment later, he heard water running in the bathroom.
Of course—she'd been soaked too.
Daniel forced himself to look away, shaking off old desires. He had more important things to worry about now.
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