3rd POV:
''Dad, have you seen my keys?,'' Gwen called out from her room.
''Where do you remember putting them?,'' George asked her smartly. He had some free time and was watching a football game, legs kicked back on the table and a beer in hand.
''You think I'd ask you if I remember?,'' Gwen called back.
Evelyn was sitting next to George, not really interested in the game, but having nothing better to do she was looking up some videos on her phone.
''I remember seeing more keys then usual on the key rack when I came in. Go bring them to her,'' Evelyn told him.
''Why me?,'' George complained.
''We can flip a coin,'' Evelyn smiled playfully.
George groaned, but instead of taking her offer, he (reluctantly) moved to the entrance of their apartment.
These were his, those Evelyns, that one was the key to the basement...
Aha!
Actually...
No.
He vaguely remembered that Gwen had four keys on her key chain.
One for her bike (which she didn't use all that often), one for the mailbox, one for the door to the building and one for their apartment.
So, why were there six keys on her key chain?
Did Bell give her one to his house? That didn't explain the sixth.
''I've found them,'' George called out.
Shortly after, Gwen came from her room and George handed her the keys, hiding his suspicions.
''Great, thanks. How do I look?,'' Gwen asked them and pocketed her keys. She adjusted her back pack a little.
''Not overly dressed, but still good. Are you doing some outdoor activity?,'' Evelyn asked her from the couch.
''Yup. Bell said he would keep it a surprise,'' Gwen lied. She knew what he wanted to do, she just failed to come up with a reasonable alternative in time. No matter, she would find an appropriate lie at her state of appearance at the end of the date.
''Ah, well, have fun then,'' Evelyn told her.
''Gotcha. And you two ...have fun as well,'' Gwen replied back a little awkward. She waved to them and then left.
''You seem distracted,'' Evelyn asked him when he sat down.
''...Say do you think the two are moving on too fast?,'' George asked her.
''Why do you ask that?,'' Evelyn questioned, instead of answering.
''She had more keys on her key chain then usual,'' George replied.
''Well, they have been together for more than a year, so it is not too strange for Bell to give her a key to his house. ... You are worrying that they will do something inappropriate,'' Evelyn guessed.
George hummed.
''It may not look like it, but Bell does respect you in some form. You and Ben. You two were the only constant male adults in his life after Jack died, so he will... listen to you every now and then. Especially when he knows how much it means to you. You are worrying over nothing,'' Evelyn reassured him.
George nodded after a while. AS a father he worried, especially because as a police captain he saw many cases of underage girls suffering the consequences of such reckless acts.
''You know...I know a way to REALLY calm you down and distract you from these thoughts,'' Evelyns hands,,, traveled.
George cleared his throat and adjusted himself a little.
''You know she totally suspects. She will be gone for a while,'' George replied.
''Then we can do it somewhere where she won't sit frequently. How about the wall in the hallway,'' Evelyn asked him scrunching her nose a little.
George hummed.
''A worthy proposition. I would like to take you up on it,'' George told her. Evelyn pulled him at his hand away from the couch.
(They totally didn't know that Gwen had heightened senses.)
Still... that may explain the fifth, but not the sixth.
George filed that information for later.
---
Her parents were disgusting. Now that she recently has been out of the house for ... long periods of time, basically from morning till evening, and now almost an adult her parents were... showing their love.
''You look a little green,'' Bell remarked when she stepped into his room. His tone worried.
''It is nothing serious... Just... forbidden knowledge about my parents, that no teenager wants to have,'' Gwen huffed.
''Ah,'' Bell made a sound of realization,'' Can't say I can relate.''
Gwen gave him a flat look.
''Next thing you tell me, is that the magnetic field protects us from solar flares,'' Gwen sarcastically replied.
Bell frowned.
''You're... normally supposed to make an obvious statement during that sentence...,'' Bell slowly said.
Gwen intensified her flat look. Somehow.
''Nerd,'' Bell jokingly called her.
Gwen sighed and shook her head.
''Forget it. Bottom line is, I need a distraction,'' Gwen changed the subject,'' So? How will we do this? I packed some clothes, but admittedly I don't know what you are supposed to wear fro skydiving anyway.''
''You're overthinking it, Gwen. This is not normal skydiving anyway, so any clothes are fine,'' Bell stood up from his chair.
''Oh,'' Gwen blushed a little,'' Right. So how will we do this then?''
''Like this,'' Bell grabbed her so that he could carry her princess style and then raised her over his head before throwing her down on the ground through a hole. He jumped right after her.
Gwen looked calm, already in an spread eagle position to create drag and slow her descent down just by a little. The familiarity of her extracurricular activities immediately making her adjust her movement.
The air was a little thin, the wind flying past her cheeks, the cold from this height a little biting. She observed the horizon curving, the vast plains of earth all for her to see.
''Wuhuuuuhuhu,'' Bell flew past her doing tricks in the air. Doing cartwheels at speeds that would have ripped others apart from the centrifugal forces.
Gwen snorted and decided to let herself go as well. It's not like her and Peter weren't doing tricks during their swings anyway.
She tucked her arms by her side and moved her shoulders a little to manipulate the air flow. She began to spin like a torpedo. She did not get dizzy at all thanks to her powers. When she was close enough to Bell both stopped their movements.
''Any other tricks? I'm a little short since it is not the same as swinging. No building for me to run across or tight gaps to fly through,'' Gwen yelled out, because of the wind.
''There are a few we can do together,'' Bell yelled back.
He flew closer to her and took her hands in his. Unfortunately they couldn't really do a flower with only two people, but at least this way it was more intimate.
For a while The two were falling down while just looking at each other. Bell observed her blushing a little with how focused he was on her face.
The need struck him to kiss her and so he did. From her quick response, her head almost moving at the same time as his, indicated she was as eager as he.
Their lips met, her lips a little dry from the wind, his not so much. It was a little awkward with their bodies both being horizontal to the earth, that position no allowing them to position their head and lips against each other too well, but they more then made that up with enthusiasm. Gwen parted the kiss only to dive back in, a little spit flying up both their faces when she tried to kiss him with tongue, but couldn't because of their positions.
Bell wiped it off, while Gwen giggled doing the same.
''Forget kissing right now. Let's worry about the earth,'' Gwen looked down. They have been falling long enough that they were probably only a kilometer away from turning splat.
''Well... I want a few more rounds,'' Bell shrugged and the two found themselves at the same height again, a portal opening under them.
...
As it was, they did three more rounds. They squeezed in whatever maneuver and romantic gesture they could. But eventually the novelty wore off. For Gwen it was just swinging... without swinging and for Bell it was mostly the need to check it off his bucket list.
They both landed their butts on the ground, the tall grass cushioning their fall.
''You said this was the Alps in Swiss?,'' Gwen asked him. She moved her eyes across the wide green landscape. In the distance the mountains stood tall, a grey monument to mother natures might surrounded by greenery, their tip white. Snow. Beauty, warmth and life at the mountains feet, a city she knew not the name off.
Cold, harsh winds at the top. Beautifully encapsulating mother natures tender mercy and ruthlessness. But Gwen knew, even in the cold climate held life. Like mountain goats. Mother natures tenacity too.
Gwen took in the sights and found herself surprised by how much she loved the sight. She appreciated Bell having brought her here. It meant a lot to her.
''It really is beautiful,'' Gwen commented.
''Yes.''
Gwen smiled a dropped her head with fond exasperation. She put her fingers under Bells chin and turned his head forward.
''Smooth talker,'' she playfully teased him. For once not blushing. She turned to him and gave him a fond smile.
''Yes. I'm a smooth criminal,'' Bell abruptly stopped after saying the last words in a musical way and looked at her. She rolled her eyes.
Bell shrugged and summoned a long roll of paper. It rolled down the hill, like some Buggs Bunny type of shit, when he opened it and he began quickly going through it, rolling it back together every time he scrolled down.
''As for your question. Yes, those are the Alps in the Swiss,'' Bell replied.
''...Is that you bucket list or something?,'' Gwen asked him incredulously, watching the other end of the scroll still roll out.
''Yes.''
''It's long.''
''Well... yeah. I have a lot of things I want to do.''
''...You know. I have to ask, but you went to space and can bend the fabric of reality to your whim. Aren't things like skydiving mundane to you now?,'' Gwen asked him curiously.
''So? Meaning in an action only stops, if I remove sincerity. Yes, skydiving is no as cracked up as I expected it to be, but it's not because I was to space. It's just not for me. I'm still glad I did it though, especially with you,'' Bell replied to her and finally crossed something out. He began to quickly gather the scroll, now that he was done.
''Wait. Can I look at some of those?,'' Gwen asked him. He handed her the scroll.
Her eyes moved across the paper.
'Kept you waiting. Huh?'. That sentence was crossed out.
Wait.
She recognized that sentence. He said it to her, right after he moved on past ... whatever bothered him and when they shared their first kiss.
''Bell... What is this?,'' Gwen pointed at the sentence.
''A quote. An iconic one. I thought it a good opportunity to commemorate my 'new beginnings' both by starting a relationship with you and starting to go after my suppressed desires that I backed up on. There are a lot of quotes actually, that I want to add here and there during conversations,'' Bell explained to her.
Gwen starred at him a little incredulous.
''Hey! Don't look at me like that,'' Bell complained.
''No. No. You are right. So long as there is nothing weird in th...''
Bell blinked.
''Oh...Ok. That is fine. So long as there is nothing twiste...''
A drop of sweat rolled down Bells forehead.
''...No. ... That is fine. So long as there is nothing depraved...''
More sweat began rolling down Bells forehead.
Gwen made a brief face of a mix of emotions.
''Gwen, give me a little credit. So long as nothing in there causes permanent harm to body, mind and soul and it is not evil, it should be fine. Hey. if you do not like it, you don't have to participate the next time I invite you. How about that?,'' Bell asked her as he wiped the sweat from his face and took the scroll from here.
''I guess you are right. So long as it makes you happy.,'' Gwen agreed, then she looked a little confused,'' You don't sweat.''
''I don't. But expressing myself a little more with my powers, shouldn't be wrong off me, especially in trusted company,'' Bell shrugged. Also he was trying out that whole 'be funnier' thing that Deadpool told him about.
While he would never 'break the fourth wall' as that was just not his style ... and it was frankly weird to talk to someone that may or may not be there and watching his life, he could try to be funnier. He was already trying to do that for ROB, by entertaining him.
Assuming Bell was wrong in his assumption that ROB wanted something else, he understood entertaining as pulling off great battles or great schemes. But he guessed making jokes and puling pranks could work too, so he was not against Deadpools request.
Also, he admitted that it sounded appealing to him as well. So it would be three people that benefited of this course of action.
''I guess...,'' Gwen murmured.
Finally the two were lying on their backs after a while. Gwen had her head buried in Bells shoulder. The cold not bothering them, as unlike with the skydiving, Bell was warming her up.
''Do you think I should study STEM too, like Peter?,'' Gwen asked suddenly.
''I thought you wanted to become a geneticist. For that you need medicine and biology, some more courses depending on what exactly you want. What changed?,'' Bell asked her.
''Not much. But I'm just wondering. It would give me more possibilities, project to work on, whenever I do start working at your corporation,'' Gwen said dismissively.
''Mhm. And I'm sure, it has nothing to do with you fearing that you are left behind or can not keep up with me,'' Bell dryly replied. The girls keep telling him that he ain't slick.
Well, guess what?
Neither were they!
Gwen buried her head a little more in Bells shoulder.
''Like I said. I'm realistic enough that I know I can't keep up with your powers. But...damn it Bell. You made a FABRICATOR that makes something our of nothing...''
''Virtually nothing,'' Bell corrected.
''Virtually nothing. And then you made a fusion reactor. It's just... I want to keep up with you at least intellectually,'' Gwen murmured.
''But you are. You just gave it a brief glance and all of it is new knowledge. Given enough time, I'm sure you would have understood what you were looking at. Remember I cheated by speeding up time. And even then it took me decades. Phoenix has the benefit of being ...old and having witnessed ... many advanced civilizations.
Damn. I just realized that she is the mother of all cradle robbers... (*Bell shook his head*)
Anyway. Point is... Look, I'm going to say to you the same thing I said to Laura, because like you she worries she is not contributing to this relationship.
I don't want a transactional relationship. I just want companionship. Sincere companionship. Yes, you can do your own thing. If they benefit being fitted into my broader plans I will add them to mine and talk with you about them. But you can do your own thing, so long as you are happy... Within reason. No self harm or the like.
Get that trough your head. For me that is enough.
Besides. I won't remove all 'the apples from the tree of scientific discovery'. I just needed something that will give me an edge without relying on my powers. You will get your opportunity to contribute, if you still want. Even if it is years from now,'' Bell went on a small tirade. She really needed to have more confidence in this matter. She certainly didn't seem to lack confidence in other areas.
''...Ok. Right. I'm sorry. That was me just being silly again. I will ... Look. Obviously a few words won't just make my issues go away. But I will work on it,'' Gwen said firmly.
''And I will be with you every step of the way, if you need me,'' Bell offered. The 'like you were for me' bore no need to be mentioned.
Gwen nodded and laid her head back down on his shoulder. Then she would take STEM as a course. She could still become a geneticist this way. A comfortable silence appearing between them.
...
...
...
...
...
...
''Soooo, can I look at the blueprints for the fusion reactor and the fabricator till I understand them? No hints from you though,'' Gwen slowly asked him. A little shy.
Bell snorted.
''Nerd. Sure you can do that. But only in our HQ, I don't want anyone else even suspecting, that is not inside our circle. So I'm not risking anything,'' Bell answered her.
Gwen nodded. She could respect the limits he set on the matter.
''You are the nerd. You're the one that came up with this stuff from the grounds up,'' Gen huffed.
Well, only with one part. The other was the work of the scientists he employed in his past life.
''We're both nerds. How about that?,'' Bell said.
''I would like that, actually,'' Gwen said forlorn. Bell gave her a squeeze.
''Me too.''
---
Their date was over, but Gwen was not against spending some more time with him or the girls at their HQ.
Je- Phoenix was standing in the living room, tapping her foot repeatedly on the ground, her expression a mix between displeased and affronted.
''Is something wrong?'' Gwen asked concerned.
''A...cradle robber. Am I?,'' Phoenix asked them.
Gwen blinked.
She turned around and made her way out of the apartment. While she was doing that she remarked something to Bell.
''You should have kept that realization to yourself, Bell, in the comforts and safety of your impenetrable mind.'' She felt a little bad for abandoning him, especially after she made such a huge deal about wanting to contribute (again), but some battles needed to be faced alone.
And there was nothing she could do.
She closed the door behind her all while Bell and Phoenix watched her.
Phoenix sauntered over to Bell and put her arms around the back of his neck.
''Let us talk, my dear. Hmmm?''
Poor fella.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wanda came to herself in a cell. Groggily she rubbed her eyes, thinking she was in her room, but as her haze disappeared and memory returned she bolted upwards, panic surging through her body.
She immediately tried to remove the cell door with her powers, but failed. Confused, she finally noticed the thick shackles around her hands. She could still move around, but whatever those things were prohibited her from using her powers.
Again.
The memory of her time in HYDRA resurfaced and she made a distasteful face.
She looked around for her brother, but... it seems they didn't get him or he was in a different room.
Wanda sighed. She wouldn't hear the end of it from Nexus, since she allowed herself to be ambushed. Her telekinetic and telepathic powers allowing her to 'sense' people and things in an area around her.
In her defense, taking a leisure stroll to calm herself would defeat the purpose if she approached that activity like a paranoid schizophrenic.
...Which she wasn't gonna tell anyone either, since that excuse sucked ass.
The last thing she remembered was the leaves rustling and then a quick dark figure moving at speed like her brothers, at least to her. And then she woke up here.
Wanda forced herself to calm down. Panicking would not help in any way. She inspected the room. It was... not a dungeon, but more like a stereotypical witches brewing room. or a laboratory. It was cozy, someone clearly making it their second home, a fancy bed tucked in the corner, papers on the wall, which she couldn't make out.
Her cell was in the center of the room. There seemed to be fresh marks in a pattern around her cell. A ritual?
Panic returned. Whatever her captors wanted from her was probably nefarious and/ or sinister in nature.
Before she could continue analyzing the room, two people entered. A man and a woman. The both stopped momentarily when they noticed her awake.
''Ah. You're awake. Good,'' the woman commented and made her way over to a closet.
The man gave Wanda a respectful and polite nod in greeting.
''Who are you?,'' Wanda asked.
''My name is...,'' the man politely began.
''Who we are is rather unimportant, my dear. What matters is what you hold. Once we extract it from you, you may be on your way. Confused, certainly, but safe from harm. If you cooperate,'' the woman interrupted and shot the man a look.
What she holds? But she hasn't had anything with her when she was on her stroll and for sure anything she DID have was removed from her possession, except her clothes.
Wait.
Extract?
Her powers?
''You seek to extract my powers from me? Why?,'' Wanda asked.
The woman did not reply to her. Too focused on her work or dismissive of Wanda. She was going through a book, seemingly looking for something or double checking something else. Wanda wasn't sure.
Wanda moved her gaze to the man, who gave her a sincere look of apology.
''It is for your own good. The power you hold... you do not know what it is capable of. We are doing this to save people. I give you my word as the...,'' the man stopped himself,'' I give you my word, on my honor, that I will see you returned personally, safe and sound, to your family, to your brother. We have not harmed him, if that is what you are wondering. This shouldn't take long.''
Wanda sneered.
''What are you? A knight? You seem to strive to be chivalrous, but clearly you are not chivalrous enough, else you wouldn't have kidnapped me in the first place,'' Wanda spat.
The man, instead of getting angry, made a face of disappointment. Seemingly in himself, as he did not refute her point.
He was very expressive, wasn't he? Wearing his heart on his sleeve.
Wanda released a quick breath and looked at her wrists. Was this supposed to be the good cop, bad cop routine? No matter, she wouldn't give him her sympathies. She would wait until they leave her alone and then try to escape or at the very least remove those cuffs.
''I wouldn't bother. Now that you are awake, we can proceed with the ritual. I suppose, I can't fault him for talking so much, for at least he revealed nothing, but he is right in one thing. This won't take long. We should be done with this by the end of the day,'' the woman began taking some ingredients and began brewing something.
Could she...?
''You are not the only one with telepathic powers, my dear. Honestly, you just scratched the surface of your powers, but no matter. You should be accustomed to other people possessing telepathic powers. No?,'' the woman conversationally replied. Wanda was certain there was a certain mocking tone in her tone.
Damn it. Then she could only hope that her brother and friends could come in time to rescue her. Maybe Nexus could pull off another miracle and fine her like he did with Jean in days. Then again, it didn't seem like she had days with how quickly they seemed to want to proceed.
''Ah, yes. Nexus. I wonder how he did what he did, a shame you never asked him. No matter. He won't find us, as the area we are in was dimensionally shifted. In other words we are in a different plane of existence. There is no chance of him or anyone else for that matter finding you in time,'' the woman replied.
Now, look who is all conversational. Wasn't she the one that said to the man not to share any details? Then again, her tone sounded rather boastful when she revealed that fact. A product of her own doing.
She was showing off, her pride and hard work... a create of vanity. Wanda stored that information.
Then she would play their game. And remain vigilant for an opportunity to escape from here.
The woman smirked, hearing her thoughts. Oh well, she could refrain from mocking the girls delusions as her goodie two shoes brother was here. If only he wasn't resistant to her magic, she could expedite her plans. But no matter, she knew what to say to make him dance in the palm of her hands.
Soon.
Soon, she will have it in her hands...
---
Bell researched the DnD rules online and perused the appropriate communities to get an idea of how to hold a DnD campaign.
Admittedly, while he may have understood the game, the real issue was teaching it to the others.
But! As it happens his incredible ... youthful and attractive girlfriend (*Bell looks over his shoulder and let's out a sigh of relief*) has knowledge about the game too, because of her... varied life experiences (*checks again*).
(She talked his ear off. Bell wanted to say literally, but that would not quite feel correct.)
So they decided to have one be the Dungeon Master (DM) and the others the adventurer. Jean would get to watch one side, even if she would have to sit this round out and Bell would be an adventurer and help out the others and guide them. Then they would all rotate for DM when the others understood the game.
''The Cult has managed to take you captive. They six cultist drag you bound to an altar before a green dragon to present you and bow as they say: 'Oh great and ancient dragon. We have brought you this human sacrifice and gold as tribute to your greatness. Please accept our offering.','' Phoenix narrated.
''She is not making it out alive, won't she?,'' Gwen whispered worried to Bell. She was biting her nail a little in anticipation, surprisingly very invested in the game.
''We have other characters prepared in case our current ones die,'' Laura reminded her. Which was a thing one could do, during their DnD session.
Rogue looked over to Bell, to see if he had to say something, but Bell shook his head. By now, they knew the mechanics good enough to at least make their own decisions. He would still help them with the mechanics, but no longer offer suggestions that they could do.
''You have one action, but you are at an disadvantage in most skills. What will you do?,'' Phoenix asked her.
Personally she didn't really see the appeal, but she wouldn't say no to spending more time with Bell. Even if she had to endure the other women.
Rogue bit her lip. Looking left and right in hopes for a sudden spark of inspiration. She was playing a bard and she didn't really have any abilities to get her out or teleport her to ...
Wait!
That's it!
She was a bard!
''I use my action to turn to the dragon, stand up proudly and say: 'Oh great and ancient dragon. I have brought you these six human sacrifices and gold as tribute to your greatness. Please accept my offering.','' Rogue confidently replied. Even better, her Persuasion Skill should not be at an disadvantage.
Gwen gasped, while Laura raised an eyebrow impressed. Bell cackled at the turn of events, enjoying himself immensely.
''Roll Persuasion Check,'' Phoenix instructed. As the DM she could allow or prohibit certain actions, because they were technically against the rules, but she wasn't THAT petty. She would not ruin their fun.
Rogue rolled a 17, easily putting her above the required 30, after all the modifiers were added.
''The green dragon sees through your ruse. But being ancient and long lived, you have provided it with entertainment with your gall and deceit, in a life that has been rather boring as of late. It opens it's maw and speaks: 'I like you. Duck.','' Phoenix narrated.
''I duck.''
''The dragon spews its hot poison breath and incinerates the cultists, then it flies off with its treasure, leaving you and your party alive,'' Phoenix continued.
''Honestly? For a moment I thought I was dead,'' Rogue sighed in relief.
''So did we. What's next?,'' Gwen asked the DM eagerly, before anyone else could say anything else.
Bell blinked at her and then shared a look with Phoenix.
They turned her into a damn addict.
Before Phoenix could say anything else, Jeans, Rogues, and Lauras phones rang. Looking at it they saw it was an alarm from the X-Men.
''What is it?,'' Gwen got serious, once she saw their expressions.
''A serious urgent matter came up and we need to go. We will inform your after ward. Bell?,'' Laura asked him.
''I'm coming,'' Bell changed into his Nexus attire in an instant.
''Lock the door if you leave before we return home,'' Jean told Gwen kindly, Phoenix having given control back to Jean.
Before she could nod, they all teleported away.
Gwen sighed despondent. She wanted to come with them to help, but there was no excuse for Ghost Spider to be at the X-Mansion out of the blue.
It still felt bad...
---
''What are we dealing with?,'' Nexus asked when he entered the room, the girls following after him.
Pietro began talking super fast explaining the situation. Nexus could follow him, but before he could say anything Scott butted in.
''Pietro, you need to calm down,'' Scott tried to get control of the situation, he was about to explain the matter to the others, but Pietro continued.
''Don't tell me to calm down! MY SISTER WAS KIDNAPPED!,'' Pietro shoved Scott back.
''And we will find her. But the more we are hysterical or engage in activities that waste time, the more danger she will be in. We have bright minds, technological resources and a lot of other capital to use when investigating. If we pool our resources together we can accomplish wonders.
Professor, would you be willing to use Cerebro to try and find her?,'' Nexus tried his own hand at getting control of the situation.
''At once,'' Charles readily agreed and departed with Ororo and Hank.
''Pietro, were did you last see her?,'' Nexus asked.
''In our room, this morning. She picked up the habit to take a stroll through the forest to destress,'' Pietro quickly replied with forced calmness. Jubilee put a hand on his shoulder to try and offer him a little comfort.
''That means she was a prime target for kidnapping, since she was isolated. Maybe the kidnapper even knew the grounds intimately or was like Sinister, biding their time for an opportunity. Our defenses were not triggered after all. Pietro, go and bring something of your sisters, cloth, anything that has her scent. Logan and Laura can try and follow her trail by scent if her kidnapper left any,'' Scott instructed, taking over.
Pietro disappeared for a brief second, a small gust of wind going through the room and when he came back he handed Wandas T-Shirt to Laura.
''I doubt we will be that lucky. Kurt, you and I will go with them,'' Nexus informed Kurt.
''You suspect that her kidnappers took her by teleportation or portal. You want to try and trace the energy residue back to them. I will help,'' Kurt agreed readily. Admittedly, he was not that good at it yet, but he would offer what little help he could.
''Good. After you then. Let us see, where her trail went cold,'' Nexus said to Laura and Logan. By now, Nexus felt a vast telepathic presence spread over all of them. Madelyne and Jean noticed it too.
''And what can we do?,'' Bobby asked them, before the could walk out.
''It could be a distraction,'' Rogue replied.
''We know too little. But the plan is to split up. One team goes after Wanda, the other will watch our home base,'' Scott replied.
''Who stays back remains to be decided, but for now we really need to go,'' Nexus replied.
On their way out towards the forest, they crossed paths with the Professor.
''I couldn't find anything on her. I ...normally there is at least a barrier, a defense system, but now there was nothing. Similar yet dissimilar to ... Nevermind. Point is, that my efforts bore no fruit,'' Xavier informed them about his findings.
Nexus nodded. Well, that massively narrowed the possibilities down, yet also overly complicated matters. It means that they are in another dimension/universe/ maybe another planet (doubtful).
''Let us hope then that our end comes up with something,'' Nexus remarked.
...
Logan and Laura sniffed the air and stopped.
''The trail went cold here. There is also another scent (*Logan sniffed a few more time*). No. Several scents. Those ones briefly appeared and disappeared,'' Logan informed them.
''No signs of battle. An ambush then. You two smell any blood whatsoever?,'' Nexus asked them redundantly. He already knew the answer, but he needed to keep up appearances.
''None,'' Laura replied.
''That means she is alive! No?,'' Pietro asked them.
''Certainly. We just need to find her. Allow us to do our work,'' Nexus assured him. Or it meant that she was killed somewhere else. But Nexus was not going to say that to Pietro and agitate him.
Push comes to shove, Nexus will use his powers to find her. Even if the excuse that his swords allowed him to do so will be put under scrutiny.
For one, she was his friend. And frankly it was high time that he gave most of the X-Men his 'program'.
But if he was being purely pragmatic, he didn't know that Jean was a reality warper because Phoenix boosted her telekinetic powers by that much. He was, however, 99% sure that Wanda was a powerful reality warper. Whoever went after her either wants her Chaos Magic for something. To cause mayhem, use it for themselves, etc.
Either way, it was in his interest to ensure he 'dealt with the devil he knows'. Granted Wanda wasn't a devil, but that is how the saying went.
''I... feel something. But I'm not nearly good enough to trace the energy of the portal back,'' Kurt displayed his results. Granted it was just him closing his eyes and focusing on the 'lull', the sort of sound that he started recently picking up. A sound that he associated with his powers and reasoned he could use for stuff like what he just tried.
A sword materialized and spun in the air while humming, seemingly gathering energy. It was a testament that Kurt felt it at all, because if he didn't know any better, Nexus would say that he was looking at a work of his. The energy strands residue was very fine... but not quite fine enough.
Now he would just need to trace the energy back. The sword snapped in a direction.
Pietros face lit up at the sight.
''Let us go and form the teams. We have a trail again to follow,'' Nexus remarked.
---
Nexus flapped his sword wings. The team was split up. Scott decided to take Madelyne, Jean, Pietro, Kurt and him (obviously), Laura and Logan, Remi and Rogue (after 'borrowing' powers from the others). Katherine too. A good varied team.
The rest remained back at the X-Mansion just in case.
''There is nothing but ocean as far as the eye can see. Are you sure, we are were we need to be, bub,'' Logan asked. He was flying the Blackbird. Nexus cut open a portal wide enough for the jet to fly through and now they were flying above the waters between Ireland and England.
''I'm certain,'' Nexus replied in the headset. Both he and the jet were hovering in the air.
Nexus really needed to study up on geography. As Raezen he already noted that the Isle of Man did not exist here. He knew about Wakanda and Latveria too. He guessed those two bore a more proper investigation sooner or later too. As well as other stuff.
Except it actually does exist. Just under a shroud of dimensional plane fuckery. Whoever did this was good, really good. Nexus knew that if he cut open the space, whoever did this would be immediately alarmed. So no surprise attack.
(It was a game, a toss up, between Nexus being good enough to detect something and destroy it, but not quite there yet in not suffering the consequences in doing so. At least he knew now the level of threat they were dealing with.)
''I can cut open the space, but I have the impression that whoever kidnapped Wanda will be immediately warned off our presence,'' Nexus informed them through the intercom.
''What are you waiting for? DO IT!,'' Pietro yelled at him.
Nexus ignored him.
''Scott?,'' Nexus asked him. Ultimately he was the leader, Nexus had no issue letting other take the role of a leader so long as they were good. Which Scott was.
''We took our heaviest hitters with us. That does not mean, we can just assume victory is assured. We need to work for it. I want you all to understand that, once we enter ...wherever Nexus will cut open the space, we must remain vigilant, mind our surroundings and take every threat seriously. Do you all understand that?,'' Scott asked them.
They nodded firmly.
''Alright then. Nexus, do your thing,'' Scott told him.
Nexus hummed in the head set and gathered energy in his sword. Without much fanfare he cut open a rift in front of them. It was massive, but even so it began to quickly close, so Logan wasted no time in flying trough.
---
Wanda watched as both the man and woman moved there heads to look in a direction. It was just a wall, unless, Wanda was sure, they looked past it.
''I thought you said there was no chance whatsoever of them finding us. They found us rather quickly,'' the man remarked.
''I doubt it is them,'' she weakly dismissed. Nothing she saw in Wandas mind suggested that it was possible for the X-Men to find them. The only one nor fully accounted for was Nexus, because Wanda never asked how he found Jean.
''Go take care of them. All my preparations will be for nothing if they stop the ritual. You know what is at stake. Sooner or later her friends will thank me,'' the woman seized the opportunity either way, to get rid of her half-brother.
The man nodded and departed. The woman growing a little more lax.
This ... was not a turn of events that she liked, but it was good either way. It was really good. With her half-brother finally gone, she could proceed as she planned initially with her ritual.
There was no way in hell, she would leave even a speck of drop of Chaos Magic behind in Wandas body. It infuriated her something fierce that... this plebeian just stumbled upon Chaos Magic of all things, when better sorceresses like her tried, for eons, to get access to it. Wanda shan't complain, for she would surely put Chaos Magic to better use then just... telekinesis and telepathy.
Once she has absorbed all the Chaos Magic, her already considerable magic pool would grow even more and her power would jump by a manifold.
Whatever happened with the Darkhold and Cthon could finally be put to rights then. His transgression to not be their minion, would finally be punished and they can cast some of the more complicated spells with Chaos Magic. Their power without Chaos Magic unfortunately not enough.
Or well... she could. Her 'sisters' won't mind too much, surely.
Of course, since Wanda lived with Chaos Magic long enough that every cell of her body was now saturated with it, absorbing it all meant killing her.
But that was a worthy sacrifice.
The woman began her work anew.
---
Nexus looked at the castle in front of them. He knew that castle from Nasuverse. It was almost a 1 to 1 replica.
(Which, by the way, why were some themes reoccurring despite being entire Multiverse clusters apart? No matter, there were more important things going on.)
''Is that a castle?,'' Katherine asked.
''That is Camelot,'' Nexus replied distracted. He looked up and around. There was ... a LOT of energy saturating the air. He could tell now much better, now that they all walked past that veil that dimensionally shifted them.
'That is correct. How does he know that?,'' Phoenix asked Jean.
'We can ask him later. That is not important now,'' Jean replied back.
''Camelot? Like, from the Arthurian Legends?,'' Katherine asked again.
''That is not important. How do we find Wanda in this huge area?,'' Pietro asked quickly.
''Jean, Madelyne?,'' Scott asked them.
The two understood what he wanted and focused their powers for a few moments.
''She is underground in one of the towers of the city walls,'' Madelyne replied.
''Well. Guide us there then,'' Pietro demanded.
They began walking Jean and Madelyne taking the lead.
''You said whoever kidnapped Wanda will be alarmed of our presence. I wonder why we haven't been attacked or confronted yet,'' Remi asked after a few minutes.
''You had to ask,'' Logan grunted, beginning to hear walking in the far distance.
''Hm?,'' Remi asked.
''Are those...actual knights?,'' Rogue asked.
''What part of Arthurian Legend made you not think of knights?,'' Katherine sarcastically replied.
15 knights stopped across from them.
''Is anyone of you, per chance, King Arthur Pendragon?,'' Nexus called out.
It... was peculiar that none of the knights registered as a threat on his radar. What? Which is exactly why he first wanted to try dialogue with them.
''Are we seriously wasting time conversing with these fuckwits?,'' Pietro harshly whispered.
''Pietro, calm yourself down. You risk escalating the situation and possibly putting your sister in danger,'' Scott warned him and gripped his shoulder. Pietro calmed himself down, his expression anxious and pleading for Nexus to get on with the conversation.
One of the men perked up and stepped forward.
''You know who rules these lands?,'' the man asked.
''I know of King Arthur Pendragon and little of the land,'' Nexus replied back.
''How come you... Please stay out of my mind,'' the man turned to look at Madelyne and requested politely. By all means, he could not stop anyone from entering his mind, he just had enough magic resistance that he would be warned if someone attempted something with his mind or could resist mind control more or less effectively.
(Madelyne was no Nexus or Jean and Phoenix.)
''You kidnapped one of our friends,'' Nexus diverted his attention back to him,''We would, POLITELY, ask for her to be released.''
''I'm sorry, I can not do that,'' the man unwittingly walked into the trap. If there was a king, no one could do anything without his authority. The man would have needed to construct his sentence differently.
(Of course, Nexus already knew that the man was Arthur Pendragon, but now he had an excuse for the others.)
''Why not, your Majesty?,'' Nexus asked him.
Arthur blinked and then hang his head with disappointment. He was never the best at political intrigue, as all the people kept telling him over the centuries. He wore his heart on his sleeve and was too genuine. Thank God for his Round Table and advisors.
''Your friend has access to something she does not understand. We seek to, safely to her, remove it from her body and contain it. We are trying to keep people safe,'' Arthur informed them.
Uhu, Nexus thought to himself. So he was right, that someone wanted to use Wanda for her Chaos Magic.
''Then why not approach us and talk with us? Why the kidnapping? We would have listened,'' Scott retorted.
''Listened, but not acted upon our knowledge. I could not risk millions, because your sentimental attachment to her made any of your fearful,'' Arthur sharply replied back. A king can no be paralyzed with fear and indecision, he must act on the knowledge he currently holds in any crisis. Sometimes that means making mistakes, true, but this time he asked a lot of questions to Morgan, for he wanted to be absolutely sure.
''Then it seems negotiations have failed,'' Nexus summoned his sword and the others readied.
''Are you sure we can not come to an agreement? We mean well. You seem a decent fellow. I'd hate to kill you,'' Arthur pulled out his own sword.
Despite the situation, Nexus could not let the opportunity slip him by. Not when Arthur so beautifully presented it to him.
''You seem a decent fellow. I'd hate to die,'' Nexus replied back, confusing everyone just a little. Why would he make it sound as if his death was a certainty?
To no ones surprise, Pietro was the first to attack. The problem was that these knights of the round table were already strong and then only further enhanced by Morgans magic. All but Arthur, who frankly didn't need it.
One of the knights kicked Pietro back, the steel plated leg kicking the air out of him in surprise, for he did not expect them to react to his speed. That was his failing, not that he would make that mistake again.
''Madelyne, Jean,'' Scott said to them, even without the command they knew that he wanted them to connect them all telepathically, minus Nexus.
...
Nexus slipped past the other knights. The knights were powerful. Powerful enough that Scott felt uncomfortably leaving the others to engage them without at least one or two heavy hitters (Madelyne, Jean and Nexus) as back up.
As it happens, that gave Nexus the excuse to slip past the knights and once away from the others he could go coockoo with his powers. Admittedly Jean could have been a candidate as well, but it was Nexus that made it first past the knights. The others were left behind to keep them engaged.
Of course, things are never quite that simply.
Arthur threw himself at him from the ground, flying towards him like an arrow. Mordred following after him after a while. Nexus parried the first strike and then tried to cut him, but Arthur used his Mana Burst to evade by propelling himself down a little.
Hmm. He did not want to kill them. From what he remembered from Nasuverse as well as countless other variations of the Arthurian Legends, the King and his Round Table were more or less decent people. He did not want to kill them.
Nexus was sure that Morgan le Fay had something to do with all this. Every misfortune Arthur suffered could be traced back to her.
''By any chance, was it Morgan le Fay that informed you off Wanda possessing Chaos Magic and convinced you to 'save' her?,'' Nexus asked him, both pressing their swords against each other.
The question momentarily startled Arthur and allowed Nexus to kick him down from the air. Nexus flew away, Mordred uselessly falling trough the spot Nexus previously was with no use, finally landing back down on the earth.
Nexus flew, again, towards the location he could feel Wanda in. This time getting much closer.
He suddenly made a sharp twist as Arthur shot a beam at him in the air.
Ah, yes. The Saber class was truly made out of archers.
Nexus began dodging many more short beam attacks. Mordred joined his fathers attempts as well, not that it helped in any way.
Finally he landed right above the area he could feel Wanda in.
''EX-,'' Nexus heard Arthur chant.
Bruh, Camelot and the city was right behind him. If he dodged it would be razed from the ground. Unless... Nevermind there was a magical barrier protecting the city.
''-CALIBUR.''
Nexus folded his wings as a shield, ignoring the massive holy looking beam crashing relentlessly against his sword wings and began feeling out the terrain a little more. Once he felt it enough, he simply teleported inside the dungeon. With the sword wings disappearing the beam could raze the spot he was previously without impunity. The ground fracturing and sizzling under the attack.
Arthur cursed and ran to where he suspected Nexus to be, Mordred following after him.
---
''Hello, there,'' Nexus greeted. Morgan noticed him almost immediately so it was not like he wasted a surprise attack.
Morgan spared him a brief glance and then returned to her work.
''I wouldn't bother releasing Wanda out of that cell. The ritual is almost ready to begin, but I can take some time to deal with you, if you push my buttons,'' Morgan warned him.
''You know, your brother is a well meaning idiot. I mean, you are infamous. Yet, you somehow managed to convince him to take part ... in all of this. Was this yet another attempt by you to destroy him and Camelot our of pettiness?,'' Nexus asked her conversationally.
Wanda, having stood up in relief, watched him with anxiety as things developed in a directions she was unsure the goal was off.
''I assure you, the wild fantastical tales you mundane people have of me are but mere slander of my character. I mean, seriously? Mordred being mine and Arthurs illegitimate child. On the contrary, he is Guineveres and his child and only heir. The idiot refusing to take another wife since then,'' Morgan replied in a genuine voice.
A testament to her manipulation skills. What she was saying was true, but her concern and affront was fake. She was registering as an enemy on his radar.
''You know, I heard the most fascinating story by King Arthur. You are trying to stop a great catastrophe from happening,'' Nexus remarked as he pulled out a banana peel and threw it at the foot near the door.
''That would be correct. Perhaps, I can admit, we approached this the wrong way, but the matter is urgent,'' Morgan agreed readily with polite concern.
''Wow. You really want to eat your cake and eat it too. If the matter is REALLY that urgent, then I suppose I should do what a hero does best. Save people...by killing her,'' Nexus summoned a sword.
''What?,'' Morgan turned around.
''What?,'' Wanda asked, feeling betrayed. Was he actually taking her side?
''Yes. Why waste time with this ritual, when the most immediate and assured course of action would be to kill her?,'' Nexus began making his way over to the cell.
For the first time, Morgan who had dismissed Nexus as inconsequential, decided to look into his mind to call his bluff.
And what starred back made her shudder.
She stepped back in fright, knocking over the table.
''After all, she is a complete stranger to you. What care you for her suffering or bounty?,'' Nexus raised his sword to pierce through the bars, the cell to small for Wanda to evade the sword strike.
''Stop you fool!,'' Morgan yelled and moved to attack in panic.
And voila.
Morgan stumbled feeling faint suddenly.
She looked down at her chest and saw several steel swords, sticking out of it, seemingly materializing from the inside of her chest out. She spat out some blood that landed on the blades.
The attack wouldn't kill her, as she was a half fairy and immortal, but it would leave her incapacitated enough that she needed to focus her energy on healing, otherwise it would take too long.
The bastard! She watched him cut trough the bars and remove the shackles from Wandas wrists. He used her over reliance on her telepathy to make a bluff and she failed to call him out on it. He distracted her and then surprise attacked her.
She cast him a hateful look as she moved to stand back up and used her magic to push the blades out.
It was around this time that Arthur and Mordred burst trough the doors. Mordred first... and he stepped right onto the banana peel. He slipped, more then should be possible from a simple banana peel and went splat on the wall of the dungeon. He removed himself promptly from it and ignored his fathers concerned look, biting down his shame.
''Wanda, you take care of Arthur and Mordred. I will take care of Morgan,'' Nexus instructed. She nodded and moved to engage them. At least here, they couldn't spam their attacks otherwise they would risk burying themselves and this laboratory as well.
''You have no idea what you have done,'' Morgan spat.
''Stopped you from extracting her Chaos Magic?,'' Nexus asked her. He felt confident in asking her that since Wanda was preoccupied and the noise drowned out their conversation.
What?
A shame. Nexus' sword pressed against a barrier centimeters against her head. She wouldn't fall this time for his gamble. Morgan jumped back, casting several silent spells, most of which were defensive.
''How do you know about Chaos Magic. This is highly secretive knowledge,'' Morgan cast a fire cone at him.
''So you are gatekeeping people. Be glad that no Karen will hear about that,'' Nexus remarked and just encased himself in his sword wings.
''You are trying to mess with my mind. I assure you after the first time it no longer works. Let me ask you a question instead. What was that in your mind?,'' Morgan asked.
''Did it terrify you? To have it conceptualized how alone we really are?,'' Nexus mocked her and summoned more steel to attack her. Neither one were really going all out.
Before Morgan could say something, Mordred was positioned close to Nexus due to Wandas defenses and he decided to take the opportunity to live up to his moniker in the legends as the Knight of Treachery, by attacking him from the back. Smart, but not a conduct expected from a knight.
Nexus tilted his head slightly and back handed him into the wall, spider cracks forming. All that without taking his eyes off Morgan.
''I'm starting to think you have something against my son!,'' Arthur yelled deflecting a few telekinetic shots thrown at him.
''You are absolutely not wrong,'' Nexus replied cheerfully.
''ENOUGH! I have give thee courtesy enough,'' Morgan pulled out her staff and tapped it on the ground.
The Dungeon the were in expanded by a magnitude to the point Nexus could no longer see the walls even with his vision. Morgan began rising in the air to stare down at him.
''Perish,'' Morgan pointed her staff at him and commanded.
At once a massive dragon lunged at him from a rift that opened over him. And that was not the only monster that crawled through. Chimera. Basilisks. Trolls. And so many more. All of these creatures summoned from across time and space by Morgan to challenge Nexus.
And Nexus readily rose to the occasion as a shower of sword began raining down. But it was not enough to just pierce them, the monsters, like the swords were arrows.
No.
Nexus flapped his wings and he flew back wards to land near Wanda. He scooped her up bridal style and catapulted them both in the air. The dragons maw closing in on their previous position. They did that just in time for the arrows to all explode, both those that already landed on the ground and those that had yet to fall and hit anything.
It went without saying that the monsters, at least, were all dead.
Then again, where those creatures truly the monsters here? Nexus observed the Pendragons and le Fay being unharmed.
''I can fly myself,'' Wanda informed him and he let her go. She flew next to him as they all were in a standoff for a brief moment.
''Screw this. I can live without answers. I'm sure I can scrap together enough from his corpse to put together a sufficiently satisfactory enough answer,'' Morgan muttered to herself and raised her staff.
The room shifted. Massive pillars began slamming down from the heavens and chucks of earth began flowing up from the grounds.
For a brief moment, silence reigned. And then Wanda and the Pendragons were reduced to spectators as they were forced to hang on for their dear life.
*Clang*
Nexus' wings resonated with a sonorous sound made by vibrations. Several objects and energy attacks hit his wings at insane speeds and he was forced to defend himself.
*Clang**Clang**Clang* 1945x
Her attacks were relentless and quick.
Hmm. Dialogue has truly died then and he could no longer use it to mess with her mind.
So be it.
Nexus let himself be pushed back by the attacks a new plan forming.
Eventually, he was slammed against one of these massive pillars. It got easily destroyed by Morgans attacks. Dust kicking up and obscuring him.
He took the opportunity to shot his own attack. Gouging by all the energy getting thrown around by Morgan, he could not defeat her as Nexus. Which probably meant Wanda finding out that he was a reality warper.
Oh, well. He could leverage that for her silence by offering to mentor her.
(Bell always knew that it was inevitable that people found out he was a reality warper, at least his alias. The trick was to postpone that event enough till he takes care of some of the other stuff.)
Morgan snorted, readying up her defenses. As if she wouldn't see AN attack coming when her visions was obstructed.
Only she underestimated the scale of the attack. An arc moved briefly across the sky, so quick it was barely able to be perceived by a normal human eye. Shortly afterward a line across the room lit up and erupted.
She touched her forehead a felt blood, the cut going deep enough to her bone, in spite of her defenses.
But she was not given any time for contemplation. It was now Nexus' turn to be on the attack.
The flying debris slammed into her and started enveloping her. It quickly formed itself into a ball around her and Nexus snapped his fingers, two energy circles closing in and expanding back out, cutting everything in its path. Then it began rotating with enough force to generate heat, the rock quickly turning orange and beginning to melt from the friction.
The attack did jack shit as Morgan burst out and took hold of the same rock she was attacked with to form it into a lance. She threw it at Nexus.
Of the three that were watching the spectacle Wanda had it the easiest to defend herself, thanks to her powers.
She watched the light of spectacle, ignoring (or not registering) the fact and implication that Nexus was no longer using his swords to achieve various effects.
Like a deadly dance it went back and forth, in a myriad of colors that shaped the sky and surroundings. The two clashed against each other, both pushing against each other, trying to pierce through each others barriers and crashing through pillars as the moved across the sky.
Eventually they parted and both shot and attack against each other, both colliding in the middle and like a flashbang momentarily blinding her. A boom echoed out nearly deafening her and the ground splintered.
To Wanda the two were evenly matched.
Eventually they parted, neither looking all that winded.
(Neither could manipulate each others bodies and Morgan has long since tightened her hold on her minds defenses (to the point only Phoenix could read it), slowly starting to suspect he could read her mind.)
Morgan had an idea and attached a spell to his wings, disguised as yet another ordinary attack. It began attracting all the surrounding matter. It would buy her time to cast a spell that she still needed an incantation for, not quite at that level where she could cast it without an incantation.
Only, ironically, that same attack that was supposed to buy her time gave Nexus a crazy idea.
He began gathering all the material himself around him, instead of getting weighted down by the spell and material.
And then...
He began compressing it all quickly, increasing it's density. More material flowing in and added to the dense ball.
It was a race of time to see who would get to fire their spell first.
And finally when the density was high enough, it naturally collapsed into a black hole. And here is where the crazy part came in.
Quickly after the black hole formed, he made it explode by bringing it to its end of its life cycle by manipulating time.
But instead of simply letting it explode he used time to 'trap' the energy release and began shaping it. Instead of letting the energy disperse in all direction, he focused it on one point.
He called it..uhhh...Snapflash. It was not like he was going to shout out his attacks name like a shonen protagonist anyway, so the name would suffice.
Then Nexus flicked the small 'toothpick' towards Morgan. It seems he was the faster one of the two to get his attack off.
Like a streak of light it soared through the sky, once instant it was in Nexus' hand, then the next it was touching Morgan between the eyebrows. All that release of energy concentrated on one point.
And uhh...
It was a rendition of the meme:
'Soldier? Do you see that direction?'
'Yes, Sir.'
'Remove that direction.'
'Affirmative, Sir.'
One second there was something, then in the next instant, everything that Nexus was facing was just gone. The pillars, the rubble, Morgan, the walls, the ceiling. Nexus could see the sky outside, cutting through the space time manipulation of the room like butter and cutting its way outside, narrowly missing the city, destroying the barrier that dimensionaly shifted the Isle of Man and continued on into space.
It would continue on for a long time afterwards.
(Most of the energy was released at the initial explosion, so it will not do too much damage and only leave their solar system before dissipating.)
And Morgans defenses? It didn't just carve through them like a hot knife through butter, it acted as if there were no barriers to begin with.
Nexus starred at the empty space for a bit and then released a sigh of relief.
Morgan popped back into existence.
'Oh, come on!' Nexus cursed in his mind and got into a battle stance.
(As if he was one to talk. He could survive these attacks as well.)
Morgan did not look like she wanted to continue fighting.
If anything she looked a little apprehensive of continuing the battle.
''You... you are like her. No, by what I saw you are worse and you know that,'' Morgan remarked and briefly looked at Wanda, before shaking her head and correcting herself. Before anyone could do or say anything she teleported away.
(The Snapflash destroyed Morgans space time manipulation of the room and so the room, for what it is worth, returned to its original size. They were all close enough together that they all heard Morgans remark.)
Nexus turned his head towards Arthur and Mordred.
''We surrender,'' Arthur held up his hands and sheathed his swords. Mordred quickly following suit.
The man made Morgan ran away. Whatever threat loomed over Chaos Magic was offset by that the more immediate threat. He was not going to risk putting his kingdom in this amount of danger.
Nexus could already feel the media gathering like hounds, as Raezen, now that this isle was picked up upon.
''We will leave now. You... Good luck with whatever this the fallout of this will be and do not presume to attack us again,'' Nexus commented and grabbed Wanda by the arm to guide her away.
---
They all stumbled as a small earthquake hit them. There was a loud bang and a brief flash of light, only Pietro really seeing it more properly, and then silence returned.
They looked at each other a little confused, not knowing what occurred or how to proceed.
Shortly afterwards the Pendragons, Nexus and Wanda returned. In an instant Pietro was hugging Wanda like his life depended on it.
''The battle is over. You may leave,'' Arthur told them.
''Just like that?,'' Logan sarcastically replied.
''He is a king. What? Did you not expect him to be spoiled? Let us go,'' Katherine told him, wanting to get quickly back home.
The knights acted offended, but Arthur held up his hand to calm them down. Of course these people would be a little rude to him. He kidnapped their damn friend and had nothing to justify it with. The fact that Morgan just up and ran, like that...
She claimed to love Camelot so much, she assured him of that and yet....
Arthur suppressed sigh and watched them depart in their flying contraption.
...
Some minutes later he received a report that other flying contraptions were spotted in the sky.
Arthur was not looking forward to this entire political debacle. The first reason why they isolated themselves was because of the witch hunts. Admittedly, none of the wizards today were on par with Morgan or Merlin, but ... Arthur wondered if people would still scrutinize wizards like they did in the past.
Well, at least their home was easily defend able. In spite of these 'nukes' he heard about.
---
''Guys. Guys. Can I have your attention, please?,'' Pietro stood up when the jet was flying stable through the skies above the clouds. Logan wanted to take the scenic route back home, so that they could team bond.
(They all totally knew he wanted and liked to fly the jet. And frankly? None could fault him. It is a damn jet, man. And they all were in a celebratory mood, so none wanted to ruin his fun.)
They all looked at him.
''I know today I have been not just rude, but down right an asshole,'' Pietro began.
''You don't need to explain yourself. We get it. Well... not quite. But I can imagine I would react the same if I had a sibling and they were kidnapped,'' Kurt waved him off. The others muttered their agreement.
''Nevertheless,'' Pietro pressed on,'' I owe you all an apology ... and my thanks. My sister means the world to me, she is the only family I have left. So, thank you. All of you, for coming with me.''
''You are making Logan emotional, I think you should stop, before he actually starts crying. Can you imagine that horrific sight?,'' Scott commented. Madelyne gently elbowed him, but she couldn't hide her smile.
''Fuck you, bub,'' Logan raised a hand from the steering wheel and released only one of his three claws without turning back.
The others laughed.
...
''You look rather sullen. How come? You defeated Morgan,'' Wanda made her way to the back of the Jet and sat near Nexus.
His girlfriends offered to join him, but he told them that he wanted to be alone for a bit to sort his head.
Also... the only good enemy was a dead enemy and now there was someone with a potential grudge against him. His paranoia spiked, in other words.
There was also some of the stuff he got telepathically from Morgans mind, before she increased her lax defenses.
Which was... groundbreaking in discovery. He still needed to sort that out too.
''Sorry, about actually believing for a second that you would cut me down. It's just...,'' Wanda tried to find the right words.
''You know me, but by knowing my face you KNOW me,'' Nexus understood what she wanted to say.
''Yeah! It is not that I don't trust you, but without knowing your face, there is always that nagging voice in the back of my mind that whispers 'He is totally capable of that'. So yeah, I wanted to apologize,'' Wanda replied again.
''Should we baptize this day as the day the Maximoff Twins apologize for something? Every new year, on this day, you will issue an apology,'' Nexus joked.
Wanda laughed a little.
''Yeah, I guess Pietro and I area a little sappy today,'' Wanda rubbed her calf a little and then two descended into a silence.
''Just shoot your question, Wanda,'' Nexus told her. She immediately turned to him, relief on her face.
''I did not know how to open the subject. But yes. I didn't say anything to anyone and I won't even if your refuse to answer me. But... at the end. What Morgan said. 'That you're like me.' Which means that I'm like you. And ... well. You didn't really use your swords there at the end. Soo... Could you tell me what is going on?,'' Wanda pleaded with him.
Nexus starred at her in contemplation. For a rather slowly more and more awkwardly turning time too.
She was a reality warper too.
...And he just made a powerful enemy.
...An enemy that could return for Wanda again too.
Like the devil, his pragmatic side crawled onto his shoulder, the angel suspiciously absent.
'You know what must be done,' he whispered in his ear.
'No,' Bell replied firmly.
'That is what you said with Phoenix and Jean as well. Now look where you are. Falling in love with almost all of them, not just Gwen and Laura. This world is dangerous, you need allies. And what tighter bond could there be, but that of love?,' he asked.
Where the hell was his angel on the other shoulder at?!
'I'm here. I'm here,' his angel side, landed with a poof on his other shoulder,' Sure, you could form a coalition without any romantic involvement, but I would recommend you take this option only in case of Plan A failing. Because if she gets with someone else then there will be a conflict of interest and that can turn all sorts of ugly.'
Bell and the devil blinked at him.
'Aren't you ... supposed to contradict him?,' Bell asked him.
'That is what I'm wondering as well,' the devil muttered.
'Buddy. That is how temptation works. You give in once, you give in all the time and you have fallen long ago. I can no longer help you. You can only live with the choices you made now. At least me and devil are agreeing for once, so there is that,' angel shrugged.
'No. No. He's got a point. About temptation, I mean. We both say you should go for it. Love can always come afterwards. It's like a seedling anyway, that needs to be nurtured and stuff, which you do so there should be no problem on that front,' devil remarked.
Bell moved his eyes from angel to devil and back and forth a few times.
Fuck it. What was he arguing against? If he fails, he fails. There is still Plan B.
And if the girls don't agree for him to shoot his shoot then there is also Plan B, again. But before he would ask them to vote he would need to take care of some things.
''You're a reality warper, Wanda. A damn fine one too. Like me,'' Nexus told her and was cutting them of acoustically from the others.
''A...reality warper?,'' Wanda asked him confused.
''Yes. You possess something called Chaos Magic and that makes you a reality warper. Now. While I don't possess Chaos Magic I can still warp reality,'' Nexus told her.
''So there are different ways to achieve reality warping?,'' Wanda asked him curiously.
''Yes. You have probably seen that I threw some pretty powerful attacks around, but with reality warping the skill ceiling is ridiculously high. Point is. I'm pretty advanced in this field, but not the best. If you are willing to accept me anyway, I could show you the ropes so that you can use your powers more properly,'' Nexus offered her his hand.
''Is that why your mind is all kinds of weird when I try to read it? Like there is nothing there?,'' Wanda asked him.
''More or less.''
''And I can do stuff like you did back then?,'' Wanda asked him tempted.
''If you wish. But I suspect that reality warpers influence the world around them by their emotions... and I suspect in that same breath, it adds a unique attack style to their combat as a form of expression. So I suppose you and I won't quite share the exact same attacks,'' Nexus replied helpfully.
''Well... I guess then I should take more strolls to destress... but maybe closer to the mansion this time,'' Wanda joked and took Nexus' hand to shake it.
''Keeping your cool and calm will certainly help you with your powers.
And Wanda. At the end of the day, you and I are normal humans. Our survivability and power comes from preparing in advance. Without that, we will be easily taken care off. Like say, with an ambush. Remember that, next time you take a stroll in the forest,'' Nexus told her.
Wanda moved her hand to her hair.
''Did you read my mind? I didn't even feel you,'' she asked surprised. But not angry. She tried to sneakily do that to him as well.
''No. I only made it a point to only read the minds of my enemies, whether you believe me or not. I'm just REALLY good at reading people even without that,'' Nexus told her.
''Oh. Well. I will keep this in mind from here on out. I look forward to learning from you.''
(A.N.: 12316 words. Hope you enjoyed reading that. Cheers.)