“Erik has certainly been busy,” Dan glanced inside the stonework townhouse, where the self-titled Magneto was asleep in a young woman’s bed. “I came to ask him about the twins I met earlier, but he’s clearly moved on from their mother…”
The children that he’d saved from Thule and Mephisto’s clutches bore the last name ‘Maximoff,’ a boy and a girl who lived in the care of a single mother. Judging from his appearance, Erik had no idea he had children in the world. Dan knocked on the townhouse door, a loud rap that echoed through the streets.
“Charles says that Erik sends more students to the Academy than any other outside agent, but it seems he’s been living a life of distraction…” Dan shook his head as the woman struggled from the bed and towards the door. Dressed in a thin nightgown, her brown hair was chaotic from sleep. “Although it seems that fate is a powerful force in the Marvel multiverse.”
This woman was a younger version of Erik's future wife. With both Wanda and Pietro already born, Erik was on track to father his third canon child in record time. At least this time, ‘Magneto’ wasn’t seen as a terrorist.
“Hello… Superman?” The brown haired Magda opened the door a crack, eyes wide as she glimpsed Dan in the air. “What… what’s going on? Is there an emergency?”
She stuck her head out the door and looked from side to side, but found only the quiet streets of her sleepy german town. Dan shook his head and pointed into the apartment beyond her shoulders.
“No emergency Miss, I’m just here to see an old friend,” Dan glanced through the walls, where Erik dragged himself from bed and towards his abandoned pants. “Could you tell Erik that I’m here to see him?”
----------------------------------------
“You are a powerful little creature, aren’t you?” Abeloth chortled, mouth opened wide as she consumed a wave of magical fire. Half-a-dozen of her avatars circled the Wizard, teeth bared in defiance of his magic. “I have never encountered a being who could so easily manipulate the force, all without a single Midiclorian in their body… your Emperor certainly keeps interesting toys!”
Merlyn grunted, hands occupied as he carved dense clusters of runes into the air. This creature was the strongest demon he’d ever encountered, leagues above Etrigan in both madness and power. Unfortunately for her, his most powerful spells were forged to capture and destroy her kind.
“My power stems from beyond the universal will you call the Force, demon,” golden-white light expanded from Merlyn’s position, a cleansing flame that incinerated a pair of lesser avatars. “I call upon the might of true creation, not its children… now begone from this place!”
Abeloth cackled out a chorus of laughter, each of her remaining avatars shielded by the efforts of the others. They danced ever closer through the void of space, shark-toothed maws wide as they battered at his defences.
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
“And soon, so will I… once I’ve tasted the flesh of your soul!” Four avatar’s rushed him from different directions, bodies swollen with Abeloth’s tainted power. They exploded on contact with his shield of light, ink-black mist that clung to his spellwork like tar. “I will learn the secrets of your magic and cast you into the darkness with all the others, Wizard!”
Merlyn’s barrier trembled, constricted by the kamikaze attack. A snort rippled the hair of his moustache, driven free as he reached beneath his robe. His hand emerged, wrapped around a jagged crystal that pulsed with eerie light. Its use came with a cost, but he had no choice.
“Taste the light of true divinity, foul creature of shadow!” Brilliant luminance spilled from the crystal, fueled by a small fragment of his soul. It evaporated the darkness that constricted his runes and drove Abeloth back with a howl of pain. “No creature of the black can stand before the light of Avalon!”
“I SHALL DESTROY YOU WIZARD!!!” Abeloth pulled the remnants of her avatar’s into a single entity, the bodies stitched together and reformed into a mass of bladed tentacles and opened mouths. “Nothing shall remain, not even your…”
A flash of light interrupted the demon’s words, followed by a cascade of golden runes. May and Anakin moved to either side of Merlyn, spellwork added to his own as they reinforced his barrier.
“Sorry we’re late, Master,” Anakin gave Merlyn a cheeky grin, his gaze focused on Abeloth’s inhuman figure. “...this creature is so powerful, a direct conduit to the force!”
“Focus, Anakin,” May spread her hands and cast out a wide net of runes, a sphere that enclosed Abeloth’s conjoined avatars and created a locked area of space. “We need to purge these puppets and trace Sidious’ energy back to his location.”
“Another one, a woman…” Abeloth eyed May’s body with a covetous gaze, drool at the corners of her half-dozen mouths. “You must be the pretty wife of my future pet, a beautiful little thing with a body as perfect as her husband!”
“Keep your eyes to yourself,” May snorted as she joined in Merlyn’s spellwork. Combined with Anakin, they carved a world tree into the void with magical power. “Don’t you know that it’s impolite to stare?”
----------------------------------------
“I’ve got kids?” Erik shook his head, one hand on the back of his neck. “I vaguely remember a woman from years ago with the name Maximoff, but…”
“We can do an official DNA test if you want, but I’m ninety-nine percent certain they’re your children,” Dan rolled his eyes as the downtrodden young man. It was up to Erik what he wanted to do, but Dan would extend the twins Krypton’s protection regardless. “They’re called Wanda and Pietro, their mother moved to New-York while she was pregnant… she was searching for you, but Xavier’s school is warded against normal humans.”
Erik’s face fell further, lost as he looked to the skies. Dan sighed as he cast a glance to the townhouse behind them. A quick scan within Magda’s body confirmed his suspicions. Erik was soon to be a father of three.
“What should I do?” Erik rubbed at his temples, eyes closed against the sun. “It’s been years since I even saw the woman… I can’t believe she made it all the way to New-York and I never found her.”
“You don’t need to run back and try and force a happy family, but I’m certain your children would like to know their father,” Dan patted Erik on the shoulder and waved to the town house behind them. “You’re allowed to live your life and find love, but don’t make children suffer to save you from a difficult interaction… you can be a part of their lives and forge your own path.”
Erik nodded, gaze unfocused as he looked at the townhouse and considered what it represented. Dan gave his shoulder a final pat and rose into the sky. It was up to Erik how to proceed, but if he left it alone it would lead to awkward conversations later. All of his children were destined to be powerful mutants, ones that Krypton would work hard to recrute.
“Think hard about your decision, you’ll have the opportunity to meet with them in a month or so,” Dan gave Erik a wave as he drifted further away. “There will be an all hands meeting of the Order of Krypton called, held in Charles’ mansion. They’ll be less than thirty minutes away.”
Dan increased his speed and pushed free of the atmosphere. With the Ancient One’s decision to place Earth in his hands, he had to invest in a thorough scan of the planet with his own eyes. Cal and Kara were limited by Kryptonian weaknesses and technology could be subverted in countless ways.
“It’s going to take forever, but I need to catalogue every inch of this planet, down to its core…”