046

Norman stood at the university exit as his eyes scanned everyone he saw in search of something or rather someone.

He was trying to locate the two gazes he felt in the short time before, but no matter how hard he tried it was simply as if they had vanished into nothingness, which made him a bit alert the fact that they could disappear from one moment to the next was a bit problematic and suspicious.

After some thought and no result Norman decided to simply start heading to the parking lot where his car was located, in the end he had already fulfilled the promise he had made to Gwen and Curtis besides finding a pleasant surprise, so there was nothing to stop him at the university any longer.

Also, with the indication he had left Felicia there would be no problem if he simply left.

Once he arrived at his destination he hurried to his car and for the last time before getting in he looked at his surroundings, but not seeing or feeling anything he shook his head before getting into the car.

'Maybe I'm just a little paranoid' was Norman's thought before he started the car and began to pull out of the parking lot.

…

After a trip in his car Norman found himself at Oscorp as he made his way to the Oscorp parking lot and then headed to his office, he needed to get some work done before he could go home.

'I need to find a hobby' thought Norman, after all, most of his days consisted of working, researching or taking care of Harry, if he kept it up it would only be a matter of time before his body started to show signs of fatigue.

The moment he got out of his car Norman felt a change of sorts, he couldn't quite place it, but he knew something had happened.

"You certainly are a strange individual" an old voice was what Norman heard, so quickly and with maximum alertness he looked in the direction it came from, wondering what was going on.

Norman's vision was simply filled with what were probably the most extravagant clothes he had seen in a long time.

A man in the senior stage was dressed in a strange manner, white colored pants and a black shirt were normal clothing that could be considered ordinary, but the man wore a sort of red robe similar to that of a monk that made up the majority of his outfit. Along with it the man wore a sort of red miter with golden bands.

"You are?" Norman asked as a black gauntlet began to form on his left hand and his grip on his hidden sword became a little tighter than usual.

"If you like you can refer to me as Yao, I really don't mind" the man replied calmly as he approached Norman.

'I'm not surprised any more' thought Norman, at this point he had given up hope of understanding the world he was in, he would just figure it out as time went on and act accordingly.

"So what are you looking for?" this time Norman decided to be a little more direct, Yao seemed somewhat calm and showed no malice against him, of course this wasn't enough for him to lower his alertness, but at least it seemed he had no intention of fighting.

"I want to have a talk with you" was the reply Yao gave before making a small movement with his hand and making some sort of table and chairs formed with the floor of the parking lot.

'Mirror dimension' Osborn thought quickly, that might explain why he felt some sort of change around him and that would also explain how he warped reality in such a simple way, though with magic one could never be entirely sure.

Norman thought about his options, but regardless he knew he was completely cornered no matter what he did, so in the end he just started to move a few steps and sit in the chair.

"I guess you are a mutant right?" at the moment he didn't know how much knowledge Yao had about him, so he would play the ignorance card to probe a bit.

"No I'm not, you could say I'm some kind of sorcerer" he replied in a calm manner, "Now it's my turn" he added, "What are you?" he asked.

Norman for a moment did not know what to say, he did not even fully understand the question that was addressed to him: "I do not know what you mean by your question" he said sincerely to Yao.

At his words Yao only seemed to adopt a thoughtful attitude, in which he remained for a while before speaking again: "I mean who are you really, you are not a born inhabitant of the earth, but you are not a demon of limbo either, at the same time you are not a native of the dark dimension" Yao began to say and if he knew that with those words he had been given an enormous information Norman did not know it.

"It would simply seem that your mere existence was not part of this universe" Yao continued to say, but this time his voice changed dramatically, the calm and even soft voice changed to one that was completely neutral and with a hidden danger in it.

At the change in the attitude of what could be the Sorcerer Supreme of this world Norman simply continued with a calm attitude: "A magician never reveals his secrets" for obvious reasons Norman knew that his answer could certainly create a lot of trouble for him.

What he was doing now was a gamble that if he was honest with himself he had a high chance of losing, of course Norman could have revealed his origin or continued to play the ignorance card, but both of those were not a good option either.

For a moment Norman could see a small movement of Yao's hands, almost immediately Osborn prepared himself for a possible attack and just as he was about to use his teleportation to try to escape he could see for a split second how Yao's eyes seemed to widen in surprise and a small hint of fear and panic.

The atmosphere seemed to change once again, this time Yao remained silent as a thoughtful face reappeared on his face, for his part Norman despite not seeing a sign of attack from the other man took a distance from him.

The older man stood that way for a while before simply looking at Norman once more and beginning to speak: "Truly a strange individual" were his words, similar to the first ones he mentioned upon seeing Osborn.

A wave of his hand was all it took before some sort of orange circle appeared, "I brought you to a rather peculiar place, so the exit can only be made that way" he explained, though he kept many details to himself.

With those words Norman could be more confident in the fact that he had brought him to the mirror dimension, a part of him wanted to test the limits of his teleportation ability, but he knew that at this moment it was not convenient, so he just started walking in the direction of the portal.

Norman expected Yao to say something to him before he left, but to his surprise there was no further word, so he simply crossed the portal and returned to the usual dimension he inhabited.

Osborn simply let out a sigh of relief, despite the calm and indifferent attitude he showed seconds ago he knew that had it gone differently he would have been dead or at least captured, this time he had been very lucky.

However, the fact that Yao had suddenly visited him was causing him a slight annoyance, it seemed that he was aware to a lesser degree of the fact that he was not the original Norman Osborn, but if that was the case why did it take so long to visit him, it was something that made no sense.

Which made him think of the two stares he received at the university and how they disappeared, almost as if they ceased to exist or were teleported away.

'Maybe I wasn't so paranoid after all' a somewhat amused thought crossed his mind, Norman shook his head as he pushed that thought out of his mind, only to be replaced by a second one.

This time related to the big change of attitude that Yao had, it was something really strange Norman knew he was about to attack him, but he must have seen something that stopped him to change his mind, but he just didn't know what it could be.

This time a tired sigh left his lips as he seemed to slouch a little, he didn't like it at all when things are out of his control and again this world managed to make his mind go into chaos.

'A truly chaotic world' was Norman's last thought before he began to walk to the gates of Oscorp.

…

Location unknown.

The moment Yao crossed through a portal of his own he met the gaze of three people, one of them curious, the other suspicious and the last one expectant.

"Illyana you can rest assured, it's not someone who managed to escape from the limbo" he mentioned to the blonde in order to reassure her, knowing well that otherwise she wouldn't be able to concentrate or rest if she didn't know.

As soon as Yao's words were heard by the young girl she let out a sigh of relief as her attitude started to look more relaxed and happier.

"So, what is it?" the question was asked by a redhead who wanted to satiate her curiosity, "Even though Illyana was wrong she must have seen something in him to have that reaction so…" she continued to say as she waited for Yao to answer her.

"Jean" this time the words were mentioned by a woman with purple hair who implicitly ordered Jean to stop, to which the mentioned simply decided to keep quiet she knew what awaited her and preferred not to add more things to her punishment.

A nod of her head from Betsy was all Illyana needed to understand that it was time for her and Jean to leave, so she quickly began to lead her friend out of the room they were in.

"How is it that you met Norman Osborn?" as soon as the two young women left Yao asked the remaining woman.

"I had dreams about him, someone who could become a great ally, among other things" without giving too many details Betsy answered him.

"Your precognition is acting" Yao stated at the words the woman had told him, Betsy just nodded.

"How far could you see?" he questioned quickly.

But he only received a shrug as an answer, "I really don't know, but all in all it's not something that can be fully trusted remember?" was the answer he received from Betsy.

"Is he a threat?" this time Yao's question had an absolute seriousness to it, and he seemed to ignore the question Betsy had asked him.

Betsy seemed to think for a moment about her answer before speaking, "Only if you are his enemy" simple and straightforward words came out of her mouth.

Yao didn't answer again and Betsy simply turned around and began to head for the exit of the room.

"Elizabeth" just before she left she heard her name and proceeded to turn her head to look at Yao, "Be careful of that man, he is surrounded by death" he warned.

"I'll keep that in mind" replied Betsy then exited the room and left Yao alone, who was just lost in thought.