After thirty-six straight hours of sleep, followed by a shower and an interesting and tasty breakfast. Bartholomew had prepared me a breakfast of a Gartro Egg Omelet with Jerba Cheese, Gornt Sausage, and Protato Hash, all washed down with a Raktajino. It was mixing universes to a level some might consider heretical, but I found it tasty, filling, and good fuel for my day. I'd planned mostly to do a bit of light spell studying, and maybe do a bit of crafting to relax. I had very little intention to follow up on the Avengers ID badge today.
That, unfortunately, got interrupted partway through. I had just gotten down a spell that would allow me to breathe, see, and move underwater as normal, despite the pressure, water resistance, darkness, and lack of breathable atmosphere when I got a call from none other than Tony Stark. Apparently, the Avengers ID Card could act as more than a pager and GPS locator in terms of tech. It also could act as a videophone. I found that out the Hard Way when I had broken from my studying for lunch and Tony Stark's mustached face popped up in holographic form projected from my ID Card.
"Johnny! I'd have thought you'd have called by now! Normally folks'd kill to get on the Avengers, we don't have to call them!" Grinned Tony.
"Tony, I don't even know if I want to be on the Avengers. I definitely didn't ask to have that ID Card slipped to me." I sighed.
"No? Why not?" Blinked Tony.
"Well, after getting sucked into a major conspiracy and having to deal with it, I've had something of a renewed appreciation for my downtime." I tried.
"The Bastion thing? Thor and Cap think you did all right there and I agree. Come on, at least come check out the Mansion and meet some of the others!" Cajoled Tony.
"Something tells me you have something in mind already." I deadpanned.
"Well, now that you mention it, we are throwing a little mixer. Sort of a whole meet the new team thing." Answered Tony.
"I don't suppose I could say no?" I tried.
"I mean, if you wanna be lame. . ." Mused Tony. At my unamused glare, he said, "Come on, at least lemme give you the pitch. If you're still not interested, we can put you on reserve and go with another option for an active member."
"And this doesn't strike you as a potential opportunity for a Supervillain attack?" I remarked.
"If it is, they're gonna find a whole bunch of Heroes waiting for them." Shrugged Tony.
Seeing that he wasn't going to stop wheedling me about this party he was throwing, I had no choice that didn't result in more annoying calls from Tony Stark increasing in frequency as the party drew closer. Shaking my head, I asked, "Fine, when is it?"
"Three PM Sunday at Avenger's Mansion on Fifth Avenue. You're gonna have a blast, promise!" Smirked Tony before cutting the feed.
"Sunday. . .What day is it today?" I wondered.
"Wednesday, Sir." Intoned Bartholomew, appearing out of the aether with my lunch, a soup of vegetables in beef broth and a pint of dark golden lager.
"Thank you, Bartholomew. So there should be time for a bit of training, and maybe even a bit of exploration too. I haven't tried to travel to another world yet. What do you think, Bartholomew?" I questioned.
"Perhaps you might like to try a world closer in form and function to this one, Sir? If only as a way to dip your toes into the Multiversal Waters, so to speak?" Queried Bartholomew.
"I think we can pencil that in for tomorrow, what were you thinking?" I asked.
"Something with a Modern Earth flavor to it, either Urban Fantasy or another Cape World sounds reasonable. I shall have a list drawn up for you by tomorrow morning, Sir." Nodded Bartholomew.
"Thank you, Bartholomew." I responded before taking a bite of the soup and washing it down with the beer. The soup was simple, yet surprisingly flavorful and the beer was excellent.
"This is good, what is it?" I questioned.
"Amnian Dragoon Soup, a staple of the Amnian Army on Faerun. As for the beer, that's a Karrnathi Beer from over on Ebberon, Nightwood Ale." Informed Bartholomew.
"I hadn't pegged the Amnians for such simple fare. I thought they used a lot of spices from their colonies on Maztica. As for Karrnath, I hope this wasn't brewed by undead?" I frowned.
"The Amnian nobility and wealthy merchants certainly do use quite a lot of Spices, Sir. The Common Soldiery has to make do with simpler fare, as per usual in such situations. As for Karrnath, I believe the only use of Undead in their brewing industry is in planting and harvesting of wheat. Brewing by itself is too exacting a craft to be trusted to Skeletons and Zombies. And as you know, the fermentation process tends to weed out contaminants. There is a reason that alcohol is used to clean wounds in some worlds, after all." Answered Bartholomew.
"Good. Good. That should be all for the moment, Bartholomew. Thank you." I sighed in relief.
"Very good, Sir." Said Bartholomew before disappearing.
With that done, I busied myself with the simple, if flavorful soup and golden beer, finishing the food and putting the dishes aside before going back to my studies. I learned two more spells, one to cast a basic counterspell using the Blue Magic of Dominaria, and the second to conjure a Lightning Strike using the Red Magic of Dominaria. It was as I learned the second of these spells that the Adaptability and Endless Evolution of my personal magic came into play, merging the two spells in my mind to create a third that was part counterspell and part lightning strike. This spell, Suffocating Blast, not only countered an enemy spell but followed the caster's mystical signature and created a shocking backlash that struck the caster of the countered spell as if by lightning.
"That's interesting." I grinned.
The rest of the evening was spent honing my Amestrian Alchemy and Planetosi Alchemy together as I began to brew a batch of Sweetsleep Potions. This required Amestrian Alchemy to create the specific mixture, and Planetosi Alchemy to ensure correct dosages. Eventually, I managed to bottle five vials of the mixture. Each vial would, once thrown, explode into clouds of paralyzing gas some five feet in diameter. Once that was done, I worked on a smaller batch of three vials of Wildfire using Amestrian Alchemy to dope the resulting mixture enough that the resulting mixture would be more stable. That required thickening the mixture with Amestrian Alchemy. The jelly-like stuff would then be stable to carry, but applying just a bit of heat would cause the Wildfire to explode with half again the potency of the normal substance.
Once those vials were tucked away in my Bag of Holding, I set the last bit of alchemy for the night, a batch of ten normal healing potions, to brewing. Once they were done, I headed to bed. The next morning saw me spend the first half of the day training my Sand Mastery as I went down to the sandy beach that formed part of the shoreline of my Island. Where the front section in front of the tower had quite a steep drop-off into the ocean, creating a natural deepwater harbor, the back half by contrast had a small stretch of sandy beach bordered on the right by a number of tide pools as the Island rounded toward the Greenhouse. I spent the first eight hours of the day working on my control over sand, ensuring I would be able to smother any Wildfire Flames that got out of hand.
Satisfied in my ability, I shoveled around one and a half tons of sand into my bag of holding, as it had no real weight limit compared to the ones I was familiar with. Once that was done, at around four in the afternoon, after a quick shower and change, I was ready to try my hand at finally Planeswalking to another world. Bartholomew's list contained a few worlds, some, such as Worm or the World of Darkness, which I dismissed out of hand. Those would need more time than I was willing to give to deal with for reasons of Grimdark. I likewise discarded Abberant and while Scion was interesting, I would have preferred more time to delve into it, which also eliminated Dresden Files Earth. The Buffyverse was tempting, but I didn't have time to deal with a potential Apocalypse right now, Ditto for Mortal Kombat.
After a few minutes, I narrowed my decision down to one of two Choices, the DCU or Harry Potter. Unable to pick, I resorted to flipping a coin. Heads DCU, tails Harry Potter. It came up tails and my choice was made. I would be headed to the Wizarding World. Now I had to get there. I kneeled down in a meditative pose, breathed in deeply, and sent my focus down into the core of my being. I followed the Chi Meridians down into my mystical core, then delved even further until I found the spark of flame deep within. With a flex of willpower, I willed that spark to ignite into a bonfire.
When I opened my eyes once again, I found myself sitting in an alley between two, old-timey-looking Shops. As I watched people wander past in various robes and hats, I realized I must have made it after all. With a frown, I looked down at my attire. I was wearing my Argentum Armor, but that would only draw more attention to myself. With a flex of magic and an effort of will, I covered myself in a Glamour. Now, I was wearing a version of my Mistcoat and my Matukai robes that were more tailored to the Wizarding World than either the originals or my Argentum Armor. So attired, I stepped out onto the cobbled streets of Diagon Alley.
I did so just in time for several loud pops to echo out into the air like gunshots as several men in various stylized masks and green and black robes appeared around the main section of the Alley and began casting. One cast a sickly green curse with a snarled incantation of 'Avada Kedavra' at a young boy in mundane clothes while another snarled out an incantation of 'Ossio Concutere' at his mother and a pale yellow beam lanced out at her. The Child was struck down by the Killing Curse while the mother had every single rib shattered by the yellow beam.
As that happened a third Assailant pointed his wand upward into the sky as the sunset sky clouded over and the Dark Mark appeared in the clouds. The rest took up ambush positions around the Alley while the remaining Wizards and Witches scrambled for cover into alleys or shops, immediately vacating the streets as cloaked Attackers laughed and took potshots at them. Some wizards and witches went down to various curses before the street cleared.
My Spark had apparently dropped me into Diagon Alley just as a Death Eater attack was beginning. Wasn't that always the way it went? I frowned as the Death Eaters finally noticed I wasn't running. One of them, the one who'd cast at the Muggleborn Child, pointed his wand at me and snarled out a Killing Curse. Thinking fast, I moved to counter using my newly gained Suffocating Blast spell. I didn't know if it'd work, so I began to move even as I countered the spell. Surprisingly, the out-of-context magic managed to dissipate the Killing Curse just enough that the spell destabilized under the weight of its own dark nature. Meanwhile, there was a thunderclap as the backlash blew the Death Eater backward, smoking from the electric force. He fell against the stone wall of Eyelops Owl Emporium and didn't get back up.
Suddenly, all eyes were on me. I cracked a grin as I drawled out, "Guess his hatred just wasn't strong enough."
Then eight more wands pointed my way and the fight began in earnest. . .
XXXX
AN: The next chapter is already up on my Patreon, so check the link in the threadmarked post if you guys feel like throwing me a couple bucks to get chapters in advance. Everyone who does is super appreciated and I can't thank my patrons enough.
So yeah, Jan decided to do something a bit foolish and take a little jaunt to another world, since Tony's little Avengers Party isn't for a few days. He wanted to see if he couldn't pick up some Harry Potter Magic before getting sucked into Avengers shenanigans. Unfortunately, he forgot he took the drawbacks that not only separate him from his Tower on arrival in another world, but also that plop him down somewhere dangerous to boot.
So now he's dealing with Death Eaters in Diagon Alley mere moments after his arrival. He'll have to find a way out of this situation and to his tower in time to avoid missing Tony's party. Thankfully, there are people who can help him out. Two of them will even be arriving with the Auror Squad sent in after the Death Eaters.
This will just be a bit of a mini-break between Arcs. A bit of fun before the next giant arc with the Avengers. His magic is out of context enough to not need to worry about random death eaters unless they're members of Voldemort's inner circle.
At any rate, next up will be the rest of the Diagon Alley fight.
Stay tuned. . .