Wizards and Geniuses [IronStrange]

Missed Calls |33|

Loki didn't know what to say, did Stephen go crazy or something? He stayed quiet, retracing his memories. "I think something is very wrong with you, because we spent the whole day together." Loki responded, he gathered his things and stood up. "Now if you excuse me, I rather not hang out with somebody who hurts people for fun." He coldly told him while purposely bumping into Stephen's shoulder, and left.

Stephen looked dumbfounded, he decided that Loki was just in a bad mood, so he carried on with his day. He had another class to get to, he pulled out his phone to check the time. His phone said it was 7:40... he blinked twice, is he seeing this correctly? This can't be right, his math class ended 30 minutes ago at 2:50...

He looked up from his phone, the sky is black! It was daytime a moment ago. And he wasn't in the same spot he was standing in just a second ago. He was outside of the headmaster's building. His heart raced, he felt so freaked out.

He took a moment to catch his breath and relax his thoughts, he dialed Tony's number. Tony answered on a video call, "Hey wizard, can I call you back? I have something important-"

Stephen interrupted Tony, "No, no, Tony, I can't. I'm so scared right now, I don't know what to do."

Not a second later, Stephen found himself walking into a grocery store. It was empty... he immediately stopped walking and gasped. He held on to his chest while breathing hard. He leaned his weight on a shelf and stared at the floor, his phone wasn't in his hand. He checked his pocket, and pulled his phone from there.

His jaw dropped as he saw the time, 4:40 AM

Oh man, he felt like crying. "Excuse me, how can I help you?" An older woman approached him. Stephen wiped his forming tears with his sleeve, "Um... what store is this?" He asked.

"Salem's Best Store."

"Salem!? What the hell am I doing in Salem?" Though 30 minutes wasn't too much of a stretch, it's still far away. "You tell me, now can I help you or are you just going to stand outside of the store like you did for 2 hours?" The woman snapped.

Stephen gulped, he didn't remember any of that. "No... you can't help me, have a good day." He left the store and stood in the front. His phone alerted him that he has over 30+ messages from of his friends trying to contact him.

Mobius 5:40 PM: Do you need a ride? You usually get back earlier.

Mobius 8:00 PM: Stephen??

Loki 8:45 PM: Hello?

Mobius 11:34 PM: Where are you? Tony, Loki, and I are getting really worried.

You have six missed calls from Tony 💕

You have one missed call from Mobius

He felt mortified, his friends are worried sick about him. He called Tony's phone. "Come on Tony, please pick up." He whispered to himself with despair. "Stephen? Are you okay?!" Tony picked up the phone.

Stephen almost melted with relief, he held himself together, pushing the stressful tears back. "I-I don't know! One second I was talking to you and now I'm in a grocery store in Salem!"

"What? The hell do you mean by that?" Tony asked him.

"I really don't know... something weird is happening to me. I can't remember..."

His words trailed off, he blinked and appeared in his room. He looked over at his alarm clock.

6:40 AM...

——

Tony's side of the story

He had a busy day, plotting with Thor, signing contracts, even managed to fit in some time with his father! Everything has been going great until later...

Tony took off his shoes and threw them across his hotel room. He relaxed into his bed and sighed with relief. His phone buzzed, he felt tempted to not respond to it, because it was most likely for professional business reasons. But he gave in, he took his phone and was surprised that Mobius was calling him.

"Hey Mob." Tony said in an exhausted tone.

"Has Stephen called you today? It's 11 PM and he didn't come home yet." Mobius told him.

Tony propped himself up with his pillow, "Uh, yeah he did call me but at 7 PM though."

"He did? Well... that's good I guess. Do you know where he was at the time?" Mobius questioned.

Tony thought for a moment, "Uhh... let's see... I think he was about to go to class? Or wait no, class wouldn't be so late. I don't know actually. I remember at the very beginning of our call he told me that he was scared of something. He didn't tell me what though, he brushed it off and said that he was fine."

"Loki told me that he was acting weird today."

"... If you hear anything from him, please let me know." Tony pleaded.

~

Many hours passed, it was already 4 AM. Tony couldn't sleep, not knowing if Stephen is okay. Mobius and him have been constantly texting each other back and fourth about any new updates, Stephen hasn't contacted any of them yet.

Tony made his way into the bathroom and washed his face, his head perked up as he heard his phone ringing. He turned off the faucet and ran to his bed, he picked up his phone and made an audible gasp as he saw Stephen's name appear.

"Stephen? Are you okay!?" Tony frantically asked him. He could hear sniffling from the other side, "I-I don't know! One second I was talking to you and now I'm in a grocery store in Salem!" He said in distress.

Tony covered his mouth, he felt so happy hearing Stephen's voice.

"What? The hell do you mean by that?" Tony asked him.

"I really don't know... something weird is happening to me. I can't remember... Ah, actually now I do! Sorry Tones, I'm having a weird day. I'll call you later okay?"

Tony didn't know what to think of the nickname 'Tones' Stephen gave him. Everything about him seemed so odd, "Stephen, are you okay? You keep telling me you're scared and something weird is happening, but then you brush it off as if you didn't say that. What is happening to you? And what do you mean by 'something weird is happening?'" Tony asked in a stern way.

"Don't worry about me." He declined the call.

Tony stared at his home screen, he did not like this at all. He called Mobius, who picked up quick.

"He called me, he said he's okay. But I think Loki is right... something is wrong with him."