Marvel: The Social Link System

Duncan sat in a rather comfortable patient room in a hospital the next morning. His mother was unconscious in the middle of the room on the patient's bed, an IV still hooked to her hand. Duncan was exhausted from the night before, and he was still processing what had occurred to him.

His understanding of his predicament has grown tremendously as he has awoken his persona. There are a few things he has yet to test, but now is not the time, as one of the doctors was approaching the room to check on his mother.

A knock came from the door not long after. As the doctor and a team of nurses entered the room, Duncan stood up from the couch.

"Hello there, Duncan. Are you all right?" The doctor remarked this while looking at the bandages wrapped around Duncan's arm.

"I'll be fine, doctor." Duncan answered.

"Good." As he stepped over to the patient bed to check his mother's pulse, the doctor said as much.

"Based on the facts that I've examined, she appears to be fine," the doctor added. "She has lost a lot of blood and needs to rest now. She should be able to wake up in about a day at most; after that, we'll give her some medication."

"It's a little odd to see a doctor being checked on by a doctor," Duncan joked.

The doctor simply chuckled. "Doctor Plagmann here is my senior; it's a little strange for me as well. But don't be concerned; she'll be alright. And remember to take the medications we've given you if you experience any discomfort."

Duncan simply hummed at him. "Thanks."

"You're welcome; after all, it's my job," the doctor said. "Well, I've got to go; see you later."

The doctor and his nursing staff then exited the room, leaving Duncan alone with his mother. Duncan took another big breath and sank back down on the couch.

He paused for a moment. He wanted to see a few things but was apprehensive about people barging in, although this does not appear to be the case.

So he whispered a simple incantation while opening his palm.

[By thy will, Apocryphon, I summon thee and thy secrets.]

Blue flames appeared on top of Duncan's palm and transformed into the shape of a book in an instant. The blue flames then vanished, leaving Duncan holding a black and red book.

The young man sat down on the couch and opened the book. He noticed that the pages were blank and had nothing in them at first, but he proceeded to flip through them and came across a tarot card that appeared to be one with the page itself. It was a tarot card with a woman dressed in robes holding a balanced scale in one hand and a sword in the other. The roman numeral "XI" was written on top of the depiction on the card. It was the Justice Tarot card.

He immediately spotted a statement scribbled beneath the card.

[I: Thou hast made a vow with the Arcana of Justice, granting thee the power to see through lies and deceit.]

"See through lies and deceit?" Duncan whispered to himself, as if he understood something.

Duncan kept turning the pages of the book until he came across another tarot card depicting an angel in a modest garment. It was the card of Temperance and has the roman number "XIV" on top of it.

He also noticed words beneath the card.

[I: Thou hast made a vow with the Arcana of Temperance, granting thee the sense of the enlightened.]

"What's with the half-vague sentences?" complained Duncan. "Sense of the enlightened... is that why I could hear those gunshots where nobody in the room couldn't? I got this card from Gwen then…"

He discarded his thoughts and began to go through the pages, but he couldn't discover any more of those tarot cards. Duncan could only sigh; he quickly realized that if he was to locate more of the bonds, he needed to meet a lot more people; however, he didn't know how to tell if someone was of an Arcana or not, so he could only do this thing blindly.

As he progressed through the book, he came across something. It appears to be the start of a new portion of the book, with a few phrases scrawled on it.

"The forbidden knowledge has been given to thee; no secrets shall be hidden from thee any more; the power of the Unseen is at thy command." He muttered to himself.

He turned the page, only to find two pages of gibberish. It exhibits bizarre symbols and instructions that Duncan intuitively recognized; he couldn't explain them, but he comprehended them all.

The title appeared on the first page and second page. "Bane of Secrets" and "Megido," respectively.

He read the first page, which described the spell.

"Secrets mean nothing to thee; even God could not hide anything." Duncan spoke in hushed tones. It was a basic statement of the spell, but it can be taken in a variety of ways.

The Megido spell was also described on the next page.

"The Almighty's might travels through the domains of destruction," it said. Duncan could only laugh at the overly dramatic explanations of these two spells.

He then flipped the page again, only to find it blank till the end of the book.

"Just two?" Duncan muttered something. "How, then, do I obtain more?"

Duncan shifted his sight to the window, which overlooked the busy street in front of the hospital. He then had an idea, although he was hesitant to approach it.

"Should I look for the sanctum of those sorcerers?" he pondered.

Going there was undoubtedly a risk. As far as he knows, the Ancient One is still the Sorcerer Supreme, rather than Strange, which has advantages and disadvantages.

Duncan could only groan at his thoughts before rising to his feet. The book in his hands vanished as blue flame consumed it, leaving no trace behind. He then stepped out of the room, as he needed some fresh air.

The boy got into the elevator and hit the button that would take him to the ground floor. The elevator door closed slowly and started moving.

The door opened seconds later, but it was not on the ground floor. Duncan noticed a man enter the elevator, dressed in a surgical gown.

The man stared at the boy strangely, as if he was thinking something about him.

"Have we met before?" the man inquired, almost pompously. "You appeared to be familiar."

"I don't think so," Duncan replied. "But, from the looks of it, you're also a doctor, so you probably knew my mother, who kind of looks like me in some ways."

"Ah, certainly," the man replied. "Dr. Plagmann.  What happened to her over the last few weeks? haven't seen her since."

"Well, we had an incident recently, and she's in one of the patient rooms."

"Are you sure?" The man lifted his brow, clearly perplexed. "My condolences."

"Yeah…" Duncan muttered. "May I know your name?"

"Oh, Strange," he remarked. "It's Stephen Strange."

Speak of the devil...

Duncan simply grinned at the information. "Dr. Strange, it's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Duncan."

"It's also nice to meet you, Duncan." Strange gave a strange nod. "What room is your mother in?  I'll pay her a visit in my spare time, though I can just browse through the database myself."

"She's in room 717," answered Duncan.

"Thank you; I'll go there when I have some spare time." Strange smiled weakly. "Your mother, you know, is quite good at her job—not quite as well as me, but rather good regardless. Planning on becoming a doctor too?"

Duncan simply laughed. "I'm not sure; I haven't decided yet."

"Well, think long and hard, kid," Strange replied as the elevator doors opened. "I guess I'll see you around."

"Yeah." Strange exited the elevator as Duncan nodded faintly. The elevator finally takes him to the ground floor once the door is closed again.

Duncan went outside and sat on one of the benches in a small garden near the parking lot. As Autumn went fast, the temperature outside began to drop, and the boy simply took a big breath to clear his mind.

He sighed as he gazed down at his bandaged arm. "Do I have to wear this to school tomorrow?"

Duncan simply rested his bandaged arm on top of his thigh and gazed out the sky. He didn't seem to get the message that he had made a new bond when he encountered Strange earlier, so he believed that either Strange has no arcana that he could obtain or Duncan hasn't talked to the soon-to-be Sorcerer Supreme in a long enough amount of time to have a meaningful conversation.

Duncan could only sit there for a short time, recharging his mind and relieving his exhaustion.