Issue #9

Jack and Valeria just got done testing the girl's potential with Abyssal Magic and were working on another experiment when Anna-Marie came through one of the Okkaran Gates. She walked into the lab to see the father-daughter pair laughing over a vat of... some type of liquid that was green and bubbling.

'Green liquids in the hands of a pair of mad scientists is never a good thing,' Anna-Marie thought to herself as she walked up behind Jack and placed a kiss on his cheek. "What are ya'll up to? Creating super-soldier serums or something?" she joked.

But when the father and daughter just looked at each other and didn't answer, the smile on Anna-Marie's face froze.

"Ya'll wasn't truly makin that, right?" she asked while carefully looking at the pair. Valeria turned her head and looked at the ceiling as if it was the most fascinating thing she had ever seen while Jack looked as if he had just discovered his shoes for the first time.

"I mean, technically it's not. Unless you consider mutants super-soldier," Jack replied when he knew that ignoring Anna-Marie wouldn't work. "This serum is basically like an mutation catalyst. For those with a dormant X-Gene, it will awaken those genes. And for those without then, it will do nothing."

"We figured since mutations usually awaken during puberty at best and traumatic situations at worst, we could ease the transition and reduce the trauma for future mutants," Valeria finished explaining. It was actually her idea because she wanted to know if she was a potential mutant.

Valeria didn't know that Jack could awaken her if she was but he agreed because this method was more widely accessible. He couldn't just fly around and touch every person in the world to see if they were a mutant or not.

So even though they were not on the exact same page, the duo were still able to figure out how to create the solution: Compound V. (Named after a certain little girl) As for how it would be distributed, that could be decided at a later date.

'Eh. Making the stiff was the hard part. Spreading it out shouldn't be too difficult,' Jack thought to himself as he picked up Valeria. "But we're done here now. You wanted to do something?"

"Hmm. Ah was thinking about going to the movies together," Anna-Marie suggested, it having been a long time since the pair had gone on a date. Since the Future Foundation was up and running, she figured it was a good time to have one.

"Sure. Wanna go in 30 minutes? Just let me drop off Val, get changed, and I'll meet you there," Jack also felt it had been awhile since he went on a date with the southern belle so he agreed without hesitation.

When Anna-Marie agreed, Jack teleported her back to her room while Jack and Valeria returned to the little princess's room. Just as he set her down, he noticed Valeria looking at him with the same gaze she had when she began to plot.

"What's going through that mad scientist mind of yours?" Jack asked while rubbing the girl's blonde hair and getting a glare from her

"How many more siblings will I get?" Valeria asked out of nowhere, shocking Jack to his core. "I mean, you have 7 with Mama Emma, even though 1 is from the future, 1 was born an adult, and 5 were adopted teens.

Laura was adopted and you also have me and Franklin but we're not your blood related children so Mother may want at least one with you. Auntie Anna-Marie will probably want kids with you too and anyone else you get married to in the future.

That's 10 you already have so I was just wondering if you were trying to compete with that one celebrity with the show where he pretends it's a fair competition but his team usually wins."

Jack heard her and felt... she made a good point. He had never considered how many kids he would have in the future or if any of his future wives wanted more kids.

'I forgot that's an important talk in relationships. Emma would be disappointed if she knew I just let most of those lessons she drilled into me stay buried,' Jack reprimanded himself instantly, realizing that he had been missing out on some important talks.

"Thanks for reminding me, Val," Jack thanked his youngest(?)(wow. Having a daughter born as an adult makes this confusing) daughter before teleporting back to his room.

He went into his wardrobe and changed into a green polo and some khakis before teleporting himself to the movie theater on the island. The theater was large since the population on the island was the biggest so they only had 4 screening rooms. Jack made sure to buy the next tickets for every movie so he and Anna-Marie wouldn't have to worry about the tickets running out.

Anna-Marie showed up in blue skater dress with a black leather jacket while wearing some thigh high boots.

"You look absolutely stunning," Jack picked up the woman by her waist before spinning her around. He planted her on the ground before giving her a small peck on the cheek.

"Thanks, Hun. Clean up nice yourself," Anna-Marie looked Jack up and down with a slight blush on her cheeks. She was used to being the one that teased others but wasn't one to be teased. Plus, she hadn't been able to touch anyone with her bare skin in years.

Rogue basically had maxed out her attack but her defense was nearly zero.

Jack smiled at the woman's blushing cheeks but didn't point it out. Instead, he took one of her hands in his and pulled her to the counter to pick which movie she wanted.

After picking the movie and getting the snacks, Jack and Anna-Marie walked into the action movie about an alien invasion. And as the room faded into darkness, Jack's hand never left Anna-Marie's for the entire movie