Chapter 14 Mystery

Banner walked around the roofs, searching for a woman whose photo was in his pocket. In that photo, she was smiling gently with Arthur and Mordo who were standing next to her.

" Where is she? I thought New York Sanctuary is near here."

Banner said, scratching his head with puzzlement. There was no sense of direction in him since he didn't have much time to buy things and he had no money on him. There was no certainty if he used money from the future here.

Swoosh*

Suddenly, a woman appeared in front of him. Her eyes were calm and he faces was serene, unlike other people. One could feel a tremendous amount of wisdom from her.

" Mr. Banner, I never thought you would be violating the rules of time. Tell me a reason that I have to show mercy to you because your negligence is causing direct consequences in our timeline."

Ancient One spoke while narrowing her eyes. As a guardian of the planet, she always kept a close watch on the turbulence of time and space. Especially, there were a considerable amount of time attacks from the future and the past, trying to devour the entire timeline.

Banner broke out with cold sweat, knowing this woman had similar power to Arthur and Strange who used grand magics. He imagined the horror of being tossed around by magic since he had experienced that personally.

" Wait, I am here with peace. I am just trying to borrow the time gem from you."

Banner said, raising his hands with obedience. There was no way to fight her unless he manages to convince Hulk who was still grumpy.

Ancient One felt this request was strange, but she had duties to keep. There was no way to give the stone to him due to its unimaginable power. Among the stones, time and soul were the most powerful ones in existence. They could neutralize all other stone powers if the user was willing to do that. However, their power has the most dangerous side effects, causing countless amount of chaos in the universe. Therefore, the Ancient One never gave the stone to anyone.

" Impossible. Time gem is enough to raze the planets and cause time destruction in the universe. I won't hand over such power to you."

Ancient One resolutely denied the request as she walked back to the sanctuary. She had no reason to stay here since the request was practically impossible to fulfill.

Banner didn't give up, patting her shoulder with his giant hand, but with a single touch, his soul was pushed outside of his body along with Hulk. Both of them looked at each other with amazement because their body was right there.

" I knew you had 2 souls since I can pry into certain futures. My disciple had explained to me when he said I had to be careful in the future. Although I don't do this usually, Arthur is an interesting human."

Ancient One smiled, recalling the images of the future. Among the countless fragments, she remembered the weaknesses of each hero. Thus it was easy to beat Hulk who had no idea about her.

" But, we need the gem. We can't get it back because Thanos destroyed it after Strange gave it away."

Bruce explained the situation while Hulk was nodding beside him. Even though he was reluctant to meet with her, Hulk had to save his best friend. He recalled the image of Arthur who always believed in him despite the situation. He never perceived him as a monster and he was willing to fight for him which hardened his idea.

Ancient One opened her eyes wide when she heard that. Her brain buzzed from this sudden news.

" What do you mean that he gave away the gem? He is the protector of the gem and no one even Arthur could do that."

Ancient One almost grew hair from her scalp as she questioned him with bloodshot eyes. She knew the horrendous power of the Titans, but there was no way to beat her in her home, so Thanos deliberately avoided her attention. Hence, she was very confident about Strange and Arthur who excelled at magic.

" I don't know. He had done for Tony, he was literally killed by Thanos."

Bruce said, showing his frustration.