Chapter 9

Magus in Marvel

Chapter 9

By: Pineappl3

Hilda POV

It has been months since I last saw my son. As I walked up the steps to what had been my home for as long as Balder had been alive, I stopped to take a look around. The grass was well kept and nothing looked out of place. Everything seemed a little too perfect, but I put those thoughts aside.

I had been gone for what felt like years, but I was glad my son hadn't changed anything. Knowing him, he was probably still in his room using my laptop to do Odin knows what.

I could remember how the news of his cancer had changed him. He had stopped talking to his friends, stopped going to school, and stayed locked up in his room all day. It tore me up knowing he wasn't living his life to his fullest and that was what eventually drove me to reach back out to my family.

I took out my keys and unlocked the front door. As I turned the handle and walked in, I was greeted by the sound of laughter. It sounded like the stock sound shows used and as I made my way to the living room, I found out why.

My son, my beautiful baby Balder, was sitting down on the couch watching Malcolm in the Middle. I slowly moved towards the couch to surprise him as he didn't seem to notice me enter. I would scold him later for being so lax, but for now, I would scare him.

As I was about to pounce and scream out, Balder mumbled something, "So this was Malcolm's childhood? It all makes sense now." I was confused but I continued. I jumped up over the couch, landed on the cushion next to Balder and screamed, "BOO!"

Balder just looked over at me, "Hey Mom." He looked completely unfazed. Before I could say anything more, I heard something: footsteps, two pairs to be exact. "Who is that?" As I asked, I looked over to the stairs.

Walking down the steps I saw my two sisters, Astrid and Yrsa. I was shocked and I couldn't help but look back to my son. "Balder. What are my sisters doing here?" Balder glanced at me, shrugged and turned his attention back to the TV, "They needed a place to stay."

"What do you mean by that?" I added a little sternness to my voice. Although I loved my sisters, they were bad news. They didn't talk for one, and people always seemed to go missing around them for no apparent reason.

What really angered me was the fact that they had come to my son, who was off limits. 'Why would they even come to him in the first place? What did he even mean by that?' As I was thinking about the many possible reasons my sisters could be here, they walked over and sat next to Balder.

While I was on his left, they sat to his right. I stood up at this. They acted naturally around Balder—even more so than me, their sister—and it further added to my confusion. "Balder Michaelson, explain right this instant."

Balder looked up at me before sighing, "Aunt Astrid and Yrsa had a falling out with the family and like I said, needed a place to stay. They only arrived this morning, about three hours before you did."

'Falling out? What has been happening?' I believed my son, but I still felt like something more was going on. "Why did they come here? And more importantly, why do they seem so comfortable around you?"

I raised my brow and crossed my arms, waiting for his response. My sisters looked over at me and smiled before turning their attention back to the show. "I invited them of course. They were the more amicable part of our extended family after all." He scratched his chin before continuing, "It's a shame Great-grandfather and Great-grandmother decided not to come; I was looking forward to talking with them more."

This revelation confused me even more. When had Balder gotten to know my sisters and grandparents? Uncle Eric did mention something about testing Balder, but there was no way it could have happened already.

"What happened while I was gone?" Balder leaned forward and pressed pause on the remote. He patted the couch cushion next to him, "You should sit down, for this." I complied and sat down.

I faced my son and crossed my arms to show him I was serious and to non verbally tell him I wanted the truth and I wanted it fast. "Well, shortly after you left me that note and the vial—something I would have expected from a movie and not real life—I returned home and looked into our family more."

Balder seemed to deliberate something before continuing, "I took the serum eventually, and reinvented myself. Changed my name, started a company and started studying." At the mention of a name change, I gave my son a look, which prompted him to explain.

"I felt 'Balder Michaelson' didn't fit who I was, so I changed it to 'Baldur Mikaelson.'" My son Balder—no. My son Baldur looked serious, so all I did was nod in response. "One day my great-uncle Eric showed up with my cousin Donar and invited me to a trial of sorts. Of course, I accepted."

My heart started to race at that but before I jumped to any conclusions, I let Baldur continue.

"I arrived at the Michaelson Manor on the day of the trial and was able to meet the closest of our blood kin. I took a liking to my aunts and great-grandparents but held a little distaste for my cousin and my great-uncle Eric."

While Baldur was talking, out of the corner of my eye I noticed Astrid and Yrsa get up, moving towards the kitchen. Ignoring them for now, I uncrossed my arms. "Why didn't you like them?" 'Odin knows why I don't like them.'

Baldur gave a half-smile. "They said some very unsavory things about you. So I taught them a lesson. You won't have to worry about them anymore. I killed them shortly after the trial, which I won by the way."

He looked proud of himself, but I was shocked. My poor innocent Baldur killed people? 'What happened to my poor baby?' I could only imagine what they must have done to drive him to do it. He looked fine, but it was probably eating him up inside.

"This angered those 'elders' but they weren't able to do anything to me. I simply left them with a warning and returned home. Not long after my aunties arrived and explained that they sided with me and rebelled against the family."

My mind was reeling at this point, so many new revelations about my son and these events that had transpired had me short circuit. 'Wait. Explained?' "What do you mean, they 'explained?' My sisters don't even talk. They have never even written anything down, much less say a word to me."

Baldur kind of cringed before steadying himself. "They never spoke to you once? Not mentally?" I snapped my head towards the kitchen where I could see my sisters munching on a bag of chips. They smiled and waved before stuffing their mouths full.

I felt a little annoyed that they had spoken to my son, but not me. They're sisters of over seventy years. "So I'm guessing you know quite a bit about our family—no. Wait, you said mentally. How exactly did you talk to them?"

"Magic." He said it so nonchalantly that it irritated me a little. I pinched my brow and took a deep breath. "Alright, let's"—I stood up and began to walk to my room—"continue this over dinner. I'm going to shower then I'll make something. You better be prepared to explain this magic thing to me, Mister."

Baldur simply nodded his head and unpaused the TV. My sisters once again joined him on the couch and I could only shake my head in response. I entered my room and shut the door behind me. There was something really different with my son, and it was clearer than ever now.

Before I thought it simply had something to do with the revelation of cancer, but it seemed to be something more. Whoever that was, I was sure, it wasn't my son. At least, not entirely.

As I made my way to my bathroom, I began to toss my clothes into the hamper. I stood before my sink mirror and remembered the biggest change that had come of late. My hair had changed from blonde to white, but Baldur hadn't even reacted to the change. I may have forgotten about it, but the more I thought about it, the lack of reaction really cemented the fact there was something really wrong with my son even further.

Call it a mother's instinct, but the change in personality seemed too great to be explained by cancer. I slapped my cheeks with both of my hands and took a deep breath to calm myself. Turning around, I headed to my shower and entered.

I pulled on the nobs and cold water began to rain down on me. I stood there under the water for a while, lost in thought, before cleaning myself. Thereafter, I stepped out and almost had a heart attack at what greeted me.

I jumped back, holding my chest, and felt my heart race. Standing not too far away from me was Astrid, completely nude. How I had not heard her enter my bathroom puzzled me before I remembered she was a Witch.

I looked around for this missing sight of Yrsa—the twins were practically inseparable—and found her. She was relaxing in my bathtub, which was currently filled with bubbles. Astrid walked past me and entered, leaning back and making herself comfortable.

"What the hell?" I quickly grabbed my towel and marched over to them, looking down at them. Yrsa opened one eye and just responded with a smile, like always, before moving over and indicating for me to join them.

She had simply scooted over and gestured, but after spending as long as I did with them growing up, I was able to faintly discern what they meant. I sighed and decided to just join them, my bathtub was large enough after all.

I slipped into the warm water and as I did I slowly felt my eyes grow heavy. I struggled to keep them open, but my vision began to swim. I looked over to my sisters but they simply gave me their signature smile in return. The next thing I knew, I was back in my childhood home.

The walls of our log cabin that was located on the far end of the Michaelson estate looked as if it was freshly built. The scent of the forest was all around me and I could feel a slight chill nip at my skin. I looked down and saw that I was once again young.

The serum had long since stopped me from aging, but the young form I had now was even younger. I looked to be back in my twelve-year-old body and after inspecting my form in wonder, I gazed at the other forms in this space. Not far from me were my two sisters, Astrid and Yrsa.

They were playing with some wooden blocks and I faintly remembered this scene. I recalled a memory from when I was twelve and my sisters were only four. No sound had even left their lips and I had gotten them the blocks in an effort to get them to at least communicate with me.

"Hello, Big Sis." I was pulled from my thoughts as I looked over to the toddler forms of my sisters. They both spoke, frightening me greatly.

"Now you choose to speak to me?" I couldn't help but tear up. It had been so long, and not once had they spoken to me.

"We're sorry, Hilda." They both spoke at the same time, exuding the creepy aura they were known for. "We didn't mean to. We were just scared you wouldn't like us." Tears streamed down my cheeks and I got close. I wrapped them in a big bear hug. "Why wouldn't I like you guys? You're my sisters."

For a while, we stayed in each other's loving embrace. I opened my eyes, finally finished crying and I noticed I was fully clothed and sitting at the dinner table. Baldur was cutting a steak and put a medium-rare slice into his mouth.

He closed his mouth and savored the flavor, reminding me of the expression he would make eating my food after he finally agreed to have dinner with me again months ago. I smiled before remembering my suspicions about him.

It was terrible for me to think these things as his mother, but every fiber of my being told me that something was wrong. I shook myself from my thoughts and looked over to my sisters.

Those Witches had done something to me, but I would attempt to 'talk' to them about it later. They had somehow managed to get me out of the bath, clothe me and someone had prepared food.

I looked down at my own plate. It was a strange combination, steak, mashed potatoes, and rice. The rice seemed to be covered in some sort of juice or sauce and besides how strange the combination was, it looked tasty.

Instinctively I moved to take a bite before stopping myself. What was I doing? I needed more info from my son. "Baldur. I think now is a good time to explain this 'magic' thing to me."

He cleared his throat with a sip of water before looking over at me. "Certainly. This is obviously quite strange, but I received the memories of a doppelganger from another plane of existence. You can think of it as reincarnation or an inheritance. To summarize, I gained knowledge of his magic, as well as other things. I'm not sure how this will make you feel, but I'm no longer Balder Michaelson. Nor am I the man from those memories. I'm Baldur Mikaelson, Son of Hilda and the first and only Archmagus of Earth. This might be a lot to take in, but I hope that you will accept me regardless, Mom."

I looked at the person sitting across from me, this roughly unfamiliar man. Of course. It did make sense, as nonsensical and esoteric as it may be. I… wanted to accept him for what he was. But it was so hard. I gave birth to Balder, one way or another. This… man in front of me that looked just like my baby boy said that he was no more.

These negative thoughts swirled in my head as the person sitting across from me shuffled uncomfortably. His face looked poised, but he was rubbing his hands together and his foot was tapping against the floor frequently.

As I gazed at my one and only child's face, I sighed. I loved him, even if he was not exactly as he was before. A mother's instinct was not so easily quelled. He was definitely weirder than Balder used to be, but Baldur was nonetheless my son.

"I'll need a bit of time to process this fully," I admitted to Baldur after taking a deep breath. "But, you're still my son at the end of the day, are you not? For now, I can't say that I'm fully accepting of this change, but if it is who you are now then I can only love and support you.

I opened my arms wide and stood up, walking over to Baldur before grasping him tightly in a hug, resting my head on his shoulders.

"Sorry for asking," I said softly to him. "I was just so worried that you weren't okay."

I slowly dropped the hug and returned to my seat, allowing myself to take a bite of food before speaking further. "Well, I'm back now, and now that we are all together—Astrid and Yrsa included. Everything will be alright."

I began to process the day and I paused as I was taking my second bite. "So, if you killed Eric and Donar… and Astrid and Yrsa defected and had to take refuge here… we're really at war with the family?!"

Felicia POV

I arched my back and stretched my arms outwards before bringing them back and bending over to touch my toes. I looked over to Sofia who was doing the same and couldn't help but laugh at her ridiculous outfit.

She was dressed in green robes. They had baggy sleeves that reminded me of wizards and her long hair was peppered with leaves. To make matters worse, she was barefooted and had a staff that looked almost alive. Fae and Spirits flew around her and I couldn't help but think 'hippie' after taking in her whole vibe.

"What?" Sofia gave me a questioning look before realizing what I was giggling about. She rolled her eyes. "Still better than your outfit. At least I'm not the sicko who wears their familiar."

I took slight offense to that, and Jinx shook in response. What she said was true though, I was wearing Jinx, but that was only because he was so amazing. She was just jealous that her familiar didn't have the versatile functionality Jinx had.

Jinx had the amazing ability to take the form of clothes he's eaten. I hadn't quite tested the limits of said ability, but ever since I found out about Jinx's ability I simply wasn't able to go back to outfitting myself with normal clothes. Normally I would wear Jinx in the form of normal clothes, but right now I was about to go out for a 'Girl's Night.' Jinx was in the form of a sleek combat suit, one that perfectly fit my form and contained all the bells and whistles a girl could ask for.

Jinx looked like a mostly black bodysuit with white combat boots and white gauntlets. The gauntlets ended around the knuckles but the bodysuit continued into gloves. The gloves were tipped with razor-sharp claws that could tear straight through metal and doubled as a great back scratcher. Throughout the suit were traces of white outlines that made the suit pop in a very satisfying way.

I looked over to Sofia and noticed she didn't cover her face. "You're really going to let people know who you are?" She shrugged in response, "It's not like it matters for me. You're the only one trying to live a normal life."

I felt my mask as she mentioned that. It wasn't much, just a simple black domino mask. The simplicity didn't matter too much however as with the few enchantments I placed on it, no one would even be able to remember the shape of my face. After finishing my stretches, I got into a runner's stance. "You ready?"

"To test my spells? Or to kick some ass?" Sofia smiled, "I'm ready for both." Taking that as my cue, I sprinted forward. With a combination of a Haste spell and the improved strength provided by Jinx, I practically shot off into the distance.

I quickly and silently cast a feather falling spell to help me glide through the night sky as I nimbly jumped from building to building looking for my prey. As I thought back on the past few weeks, in particular, I couldn't help but smile. Some people had taken to calling me Black Cat as of late, and honestly, I was liking it.

They thought I was a vigilante too, but that couldn't be farther from the truth. I wasn't a good girl—I was just getting rid of the competition, thinning the herd so to speak. I had started down this road out of curiosity but once I learned my dad had been killed, I continued down this path for power.

Slowly though, as I beat human scum into the pavement, I realized that with the skills Baldur had already given me I could do so much more with my life than settle for simple revenge against my father's killer.

My father was a great thief but had his life stolen by the one and only Wilson Fisk, also known as the Kingpin of Hell's Kitchen. So, I decided I was going to be a thief too, but instead of stealing Kingpin's life as he did to my father, I was going to steal everything from him. Once that was done, maybe I would move on to stealing larger and better things.

Clearing my head from my future plans, I focused on my surroundings. Not far behind me was Sofia, using her staff to fly around like a Witch. She moved up, keeping pace with me, and started a mental conversation.

'What do you think of those new guys?' I had to think about her question as quite a few new faces had shown up on the floor we lived on. Baldur, as always, gave us no explanation, but Athena was kind enough to provide us with some answers.

They were a group of friends, mutants like Sofia, who after awakening their powers needed a place to stay. Baldur had also employed some of them because they held special skills.

'Aldebaran is kind of strange when he doesn't have his glasses on, but other than that I think his antics are kind of cute.' Sofia laughed and I gagged a little. I could imagine her initial impression was because of Aldebaran's strange introduction, but for her to think he was 'cute'? There was something wrong with her.

She continued on the topic of the new members, 'I don't know much about the others though. Balrog seems friendly and that Thora chick seemed scary. I mean did you see how she bossed Hakon around?' Sofia had spent more time around them so I hadn't formed my own opinion of them quite yet.

They had mostly kept to themselves, besides occasionally offering us some food. I was hardly around though as I spent most of my time at school, practicing magic or out here sharpening my skills.

'Maybe we should get to know them better, could be fun to hang out. Maybe we coul—' Interrupting us from our conversation was a man in some sort of green metallic suit. It was well-armored and strangely enough, it had a long tail. The tail was shaped like a spear point but had a hole in the tip. The man in question had shot a blast from his tail and thankfully I was able to jump out of the way in time.

The building behind me started to melt from the impact of the strange green goo that was fired. I looked to Sofia and we both nodded to one another. I looked down and noticed fighting the green-suited man was a real local vigilante, Spider-Man. "Look, I know I'm one to talk. But isn't your outfit a little ridiculous?" Spider-Man—true to his name—shot a burst of webs at the man, sticking him to the floor.

"Will you quit it with the quips? What are you, a child?" The man in the green armor looked angry and flailed around a bit before managing to tear the webs off himself.

"Yes actual—I mean, I'm a man."

Sofia giggled at that and both the green-suited man and Spider-Man were alerted to our presence. Spider-Man looked over to us and I couldn't help but speak up, "Sorry to interrupt your date, but this area is reserved for us." I motioned between myself and Sofia. "So you'll have to go."

Finishing my introduction I leapt forward jumping off the building I was sticking to thanks to my claws, zooming past Spider-Man, and moved towards his opponent. I reared my arm and made a fist. As I neared the green-suited man, I successfully managed to deliver a right hook to his jaw before using my left arm to push off his body, flipping over and landing behind him. "What are you supposed to be anyways? Tail-Man?"

"Tail-Man? That's lame. I think we should call him Scorpion." Spider-Man chimed in as he took the opening I gave him and shot more webs at 'Scorpion.' I had to admit, it was better than what I came up with.

Sofia simply rolled her eyes and I could tell she had begun to cast a spell. The ground cracked open and on top of the webs, vines began to wrap around Scorpion, binding him in place entirely. "Gah! You bastards will pay for this."

Spider-Man walked over to him and shook his head, "Yeah, yeah. Just bill me." He then webbed Scorpion's mouth and looked over to me. "Thanks for the help by the way. Black Cat right?"

He stuck out his hand and I shook it, "That's what people are calling me anyways." He looked up to Sofia, "I got a few questions, but uh. Who might you be? If you didn't already know, I'm Spider-Man."

Sofia looked down, "Sofia. Nice to meet you." Dramatically, Spider-Man cupped his ears to cover them. "Hey! We don't use our real names!" The more he spoke, the more I felt I had heard his voice before.

I looked him over and noticed his small build. He seemed to be either a small man or a child and I was more inclined to believe he was a child from his high-pitched voice. "Hey, you sound familiar. Do I know you from somewhere?"

Spider-Man scratched his head, "I think I'd remember you—uh. I mean your voice, no um hair is very distinctive—yeah that." Sofia practically fell off of her staff she was laughing so hard and I couldn't help but roll my eyes.

I jumped up and stuck to the side of the building once again using my claws and looked down at Spider-Man. "See ya around, Spider." I motioned for Sofia to follow and we continued our 'Girl's night.'

={db}=

A few hours later we had finally returned to the tower and I had taken a quick shower. I was starving and it mostly had to do with Jinx. The perks of using him were plenty but that included the double-edged sword that was his almost insatiable hunger. I was able to eat all the food I wanted and my figure stayed great. Sadly though, I needed a lot of food—specifically chocolate, strangely enough.

As I stepped out of my room, the door across the hall opened up and I came face to face with someone new. As soon as she saw me, I felt something poke at my mental barrier and it seemed to deliberate on if it was going to try and force its way through.

"You looking for something?" I raised a brow and inspected the person in front of me. She wasn't as pretty as I was, but she was taller than me for sure and had golden locks of hair compared to my platinum. She was wearing sweats and a hoodie, and I could see bags under her eyes.

She looked like a trainwreck so she was probably another stray Baldur had decided to pick up. At my confrontation, the girl ignored me and walked towards the kitchen. She marched over to the cabinets, took out some cereal before moving over to the fridge and pulling out some milk. Placing those on the table she waved her hands and the dishwasher opened up. She opened her hand as bowl and spoon floated over, landing gently into her grasp.

She placed them on the counter and made herself a bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch before leaving the open box and jug of milk out and taking her bowl over to the couch. She began to eat in silence and I just shook my head. 'This one needs to go to the vet, geez.'

'No, I don't.' As I entered the kitchen, I stopped mid-step and looked towards the couch. The crusty-looking girl was still eating her cereal and hadn't even looked towards me.

'I'm not sure who you're calling crusty, little girl.' There it was again. I quickly checked my mental shields but all looked fine. Using my mind's eye, I was able to look around my mindscape and almost instantly I saw an intruder.

The girl from across the hall was currently looking around my mindscape. "Hey! Get out of here! How did you even get in?" The girl looked around a little bit more before fading away, signaling she had left. Withdrawing from my mindscape, I quickly marched over to the girl sitting on the couch.

My eyes twitched a little in annoyance, "Explain yourself. You don't just go barging into other people's minds and you certainly don't get to act like you own the place." The girl finally looked up from her bowl of cereal. "Do you own the place?" She took a moment to study my reaction, as I was showing quite a bewildered expression to her own response. "Thought so."

"Urgh." I grumbled in annoyance and stomped my way back to the kitchen. I could already tell how annoying it would be to even attempt to continue a conversation with her so I'd talk to Baldur about this later. I tried to put the thought of her out of my mind and looked in the fridge for dinner. Usually, Balrog or Hakon would make dinner and they always made enough for everyone.

After moving a few boxes, I found what I was looking for. In the back of the fridge were a few tupperware containers. I grabbed one and took it back to my room, using magic to heat it up.

I quickly finished my meal and got ready for bed. As usual, I began to meditate which served to slowly improve my mana pool. I continued throughout the entire night and by the time the sun broke over the horizon, I was already on the move. I always got to school extra early just so I could do any homework or projects I had.

Procrastinating was bad, but this way I could focus better. There were many distractions back home not to mention the girl across the hall. 'Honestly, what is her problem?'

She was skilled, so I had to give that to her. Though, it only served to motivate me in my magical studies further. Once I arrived at school, I snuck in and found my special spot. It was a little janitor's closet on the second floor. It was abandoned because of a water damage issue that the school had no money or motivation to fix.

I had thought it was perfect, so using some magic to ward others from even thinking about entering, I had fixed up the small room for my own personal use. I had a hammock, a nice desk and even a TV.

I sat down at my desk and began to work on my chemistry homework, which thanks to Athena, I understood pretty well. 'I'm practically Athena's apprentice, not Baldur's.' I kind of enjoyed it though, since Athena had more time than any of us, so she was able to constantly aid me in my training. As I did my homework, time slowly passed until it was almost time for class. I could already hear kids begin to rush towards class and I quickly packed up my stuff.

I hastily exited my closet when I almost ran into someone. They deftly moved out of the way and only because of Jinx, who I was currently wearing, I was able to get my footing.

"Sorry about that." The boy looked apologetic and scratched the back of his head. He was about as tall as me and wore a loose-fitting T-shirt and jeans. His voice sounded familiar and I paused for a moment.

"That's why you sounded familiar!" He looked puzzled before realization struck him. He mumbled, "The hair," and I wrapped my arms around him. "So what's your real name Spidey?"

"Um. Aw geez. The name's Peter. . . Parker." People looked at us with varying looks but Ignored it. I pulled him in close and whispered in his ear, "Meet me here after school." His shoulders slumped and he nodded his head.

I gave him a quick pat and headed off to my class.

Baldur POV

After a long and awkward conversation with my mother over dinner, I left to head back to my Magus Tower. I fled and left my mom alone to deal with my two aunts, who had been talking to me non stop, and decided to relax in my room.

I was going to put on some more Fresh Prince, but I had decided to spice things up and binge-watch Star Wars all over again. I assumed there were so many details I had missed the first go around, and I wanted to make sure I had a good understanding of my favorite movie franchise.

Well into the night Nixie had entered the room and turned in for the night, which was strange since she didn't need to sleep. To be mindful of her, I turned down the volume and used magic to enhance my hearing.

By the time I had managed to finish watching the prequels, the sun was already rising. Nixie rose from her sleep and rubbed her eyes. She noticed I was still watching and unceremoniously tossed the blanket over my head and made her way to the bathroom.

"Hey! I'm trying to watch A New Hope over here!" I quickly moved the blanket off my head and studied the screen. Focusing once more on the movie, I somehow zoned out while watching and only the smell of bacon woke me from my stupor.

I paused my Star Wars marathon and made my way to the kitchen where I was greeted by the sight of Nixie cooking. I licked my lips and sat down at the center island which also served as a prep table for the kitchen. "What's for breakfast?" I sniffed the air and was instantly hit by a spell of cinnamon.

"Cinnamon french toast, eggs, and bacon," Nixie called out, not even turning to face me. She moved around the kitchen with practiced ease and not long after I arrived she was finished crafting a breakfast masterpiece. She plated everything with quick and practiced motions and before I knew it, a tasty meal was deposited right in front of me.

The french toast was nice and golden and the eggs were sunny side up. I ran my fork along the side of the bacon and smiled at the satisfying sound of the metal grating against something hard. It was perfectly crispy. I studied my plate for a moment and almost instantly I had an idea.

I had two pieces of french toast, so I made a sandwich. I bit into my crudely constructed french toast, bacon, and egg sandwich and was struck by a sense of euphoria. The egg oozed into my mouth and I felt the satisfying crunch of the bacon.

I swallowed and took a moment to savor the taste. Nixie looked over at me and smiled, glad that I enjoyed her food. I looked over and wiped my mouth before speaking. "Are you coming with me to meet the Sorcerers?"

She simply shook her head, "You're a big boy." She gave me a sly smile, "I think you can handle it. Plus I have some chores and errands to do. I swear, I'm gone for one day and everything goes up in smoke."

"Can't deny that." I managed to mumble under my breath. I sighed and finished my meal. It would just be me going to visit the Sorcerers, and I just hoped I was able to reel in any emotions I had.

After I had finished breakfast and had gotten showered, Nixie picked out a tasteful outfit that consisted of ironed black slacks, with a simple leather belt. My shirt was a loose grey-blue blouse coupled with a dark blue scarf. It had runes running down it but they were there more for decoration than practical effect. To top off the outfit was a layered trench coat that ran to my knees. The inner layer had a hood—Nixie knew I loved hoods—that I kept off.

I put on shoes, a nice pair of black dress shoes and finished off my look with my watch. With my look complete, I hit the street. Simply stepping forward, I transported myself in the heart of the city, Times Square.

I began to look around as I began to walk in the direction of the sanctum I knew the Sorcerers to be at. As I moved through the crowd, I thought it as good of a time as any to put one of my plans into action.

I thought back on Scott Summer's true name and commanded him to go on a rampage, hopefully becoming vilified in the process. I also made it clear that he was to escape and hide until I could capture him since he would make a wonderful artifact now that I had the ritual to make him into one, courtesy of Malcolm, that son of a bitch.

I could faintly tell my commands had gone through and I continued my leisure stroll. It wasn't long before I stopped in front of the warded estate. The gate opened as I neared and I made my way through it and along a stone path that led to the steps.

Once I reached the top, the door swung open, and managed to catch a glimpse of the Ancient One standing atop the steps. She looked down at me and began to descend the steps. "We have much to discuss, Archmagus Baldur. Or, would you like me to call you Vicar of Knowledge now?"

I gave an amused chuckle at the last part and sat down. I instantly moved us to the seats that were off to my right, in a reception area of sorts. I looked over at the Ancient One who seemed unfazed at my instant transmission and spoke. "I can see my anti-divination runes have failed on another person."

She only nodded in response. "I know you like to cut to the chase, Archmagus, so I'll keep it short. I have indeed had contact with the same entity as Malcolm. The being in question is known as Dormammu, the ruler of the Dark Dimension. It is a timeless and dreary place where to my knowledge no man has ventured to and returned the same."

I leaned forward at the mention of the 'Dark Dimension.' "One can rule a whole dimension? I assume that takes a large amount of power." Before I could think to myself of the possible implications of ruling a whole dimension, the Ancient One nodded and continued. "He has a concerning amount of power and he seeks to rule all dimensions. He employs mortals with the task of granting him entrance here. So far, in part thanks to our organization's efforts, he has remained away from Earth."

"But you can't prevent his influence." I nodded. I understood that powerful beings had ways to get what they want, and it had seemed that Earth was quite protected or a being powerful enough to rule the Dark Dimension wouldn't need outside help.

"I suppose you know of the deal I wish to make then?" The Ancient One reached towards the table and a tea set appeared. She poured herself a cup and looked towards me. I twitched one of my fingers and the teapot levitated before pouring its contents into the second cup.

Once it was finished, I brought my hands up, the cup already in my hands. I gave the tea a whiff—it seemed to be honey flavored—then took a sip. "As you most likely know, I have been endeavoring to overcome my bias. It isn't easy, so I thought what better way to attempt to do so than to get to know the Sorcerers of this world."

The Ancient One smiled. 'Fucking Divinists, I swear.' I cleared my throat with another sip of the tea—I was surprised how good it actually tasted—and leaned back in my seat. "I propose a trade of sorts. I shall intern myself in your organization, and in return, you may place one of yours under my best teacher."

Placing her teacup down, the Ancient One stands and begins to walk around the little reception area. "You also want to trade knowledge, yes?" I couldn't help but smile at that. I placed my arms up in surrender, "You got me. Knowledge was my real goal, but I still think this would be beneficial to all."

She placed her arms behind her back and began to head for the stairs. "I have an alternative deal that I know you will accept. Send Aldebaran here and I shall send you one of my own. We can begin the knowledge exchange after they both learn the basics from the respective school of magic."

I was a little peeved that she knew I would accept. Of course I would accept. It was practically giving away a shelf of books to have access to a library. Sure, it wouldn't be me learning their secrets, but Aldebaran wouldn't dare betray me. At least I was sort of sure, but I could make that certain.

With the Ancient One now gone, I stood up and showed myself out. The door once again opened for me and as I stepped out it instantly and silently shut behind me. With almost perfect timing my earpiece beeps, "Dad? I've found Ulysses Klaw. Would you like his location?"

I nodded my head, forgetting for a moment that Athena couldn't see me, and transported myself off the Sorcerer's front porch and into my room. "Pull up the satellite maps." I sat down at my desk and inspected the map now pulled up on my laptop.

Off the coast of Africa, a location marked 'Salvage Yard' was being shown. It was a large patch of dried up ocean that held more than a few ships. One ship, in particular, held a name, no doubt Athena's way of indicating where I needed to go.

It was named 'Churchill' after Winston Churchill if I had to hazard a guess. I studied the map for a small while and once I felt I had a good grasp of the location, I opened a portal.

Stepping through the portal, I was hit with intense heat. I looked up at the sun and noted that it was much later in the day. 'I've yet to experience this climate on Earth. I should come back once my business is over.'

Getting back on track, I stepped onto a large rusted ship. To the naked eye, it seemed abandoned like all the others, but by enhancing my senses, I was able to smell and hear a multitude of people and machines below.

With a quick enchantment spell, I began to fade from view. It was a different form of invisibility than normal. I was used to projecting illusions into people's minds, but after running into countless people who could see through it, I decided a better form was needed.

I created a thin film around my body that bent light making it seem as if I was invisible, much like the illusions, it would make me unseen but for a wider variety of people. To add to my stealth, I used a minor muffling spell and began my descent through the hull of the ship.

It didn't take me long to venture through the empty upper corridors and arrive at the heart of whatever operation was going on here. I looked around as people boxed up large amounts of weapons and spotted one man who stood out from the rest. In a sea of ebony, there was only one man of pale skin.

Ulysses Klaw stood at the top of some metal walkway and looked down as his men worked. He was 5'11" and dressed in a cargo shirt so dirty I could hardly tell it was once white. He also wore equally dirty brown cargo pants that did nothing to detract from the obvious weapon he carried.

Strapped to his leg was a holster that held a silver Beretta M9. Hidden from sight and sound, I stood behind the man in question and began to work my magic into his mind. Usually, I would out right buy the things I needed from merchants, but Athena had given me some great advice.

Ulysses Klaw has seemed to get this metal out of seemingly nowhere, and I would love to know where. As I slowly extrapolated the information on its location, I simultaneously cast a mass paralysis spell on the whole of the ship. Instantly everyone froze in place, some dropping what they were carrying since they lacked the assistance of their muscles.

Once I had the location of the Vibranium on this ship and in a hidden city known as Wakanda, I instantly teleported to the cache on this ship. I entered a room that was sealed off from the rest of the ship and admired the glowing ore all around me.

There was almost a quarter-ton of raw Vibranium in here and I also now knew the location of an even greater source. I would have to plan things out with Athena once I returned, but soon I would own Wakanda's source as well.

With a wave of my hand I—and by extension, the metal—disappeared and reappeared not too far from my underground forge. As I entered I was greeted by the sound of metal hitting metal and looked over at the blazing forge.

Still working was Hakon, as diligent in smithing as I was led to believe by Aldebaran and Balrog. Dropping my invisibility, I made my way over. I noticed he was keenly focused and decided against disturbing him.

Instead, I opted to leave him a note detailing the mystical metal and asking him to experiment with it as much as he would like. With that finished, I returned to my room to finish Star Wars.

Leaning back and appearing on my bed, I pointed towards the remote and the movie unpaused. As I continued to watch I noticed something. "Boba Fett is the boy Jango raised and he seemed to be wearing his armor."

As I studied the armor, I noticed a few details. Namely how similar the clone trooper armor was to it. Possibly styled that way since they were clones. Boba Fett's armor was painted and bore a strange skull on one of the pauldrons. These peculiarities interested me and I made a mental note of them.

By the time I had finished all the movies, I was left with more questions than answers and I turned to my favorite child. "Athena, could you be a dear and search real hard for more information on Star Wars. Even if it isn't canon, as long as it came from the minds of anyone who worked on it. I have an insatiable thirst for the details of Jango and Boba Fett in particular."

"Sure, Dad!" Athena happily agreed and it didn't take long for her to present me some information. My laptop buzzed and with a thought, it was in my lap. I began to browse what Athena had sent me and was intrigued by the information.

It wasn't official, but Jango and Boba belonged to a culture of warriors known as Mandalorians. The armor itself was distinctive to their people and it was made of a metal found on their planet. It was known as Beskar and it was one of the best metals in Star Wars.

As far as these notes were concerned that is. It was hardly official, but I was satisfied with the knowledge regardless. I closed my laptop and found myself near the forge once again. I gave my thanks to Athena and looked towards Hakon.

He was finally finished working on whatever it was he was doing earlier and now he was hunched over a pile of Vibranium. In one hand he held Orichalcum and with the other, he was stroking his beard rhythmically.

"Find anything interesting?" Still looking at the metal, Hakon answered, "It's fantastic, simply said. My magic has revealed some of its properties, but I have discovered it isn't quite fit for enchantments. Makes it unstable." He tossed the Orichalcum up and down before tossing it up one last time and snatching it back quickly. Hakon stood up with a piece of Vibranium in his now beardless hand and made his way over to the forge.

"I think if I turn it into an alloy, then, and only then, will it hold an enchantment properly. It will take quite a bit to get it perfect, but if you're keen on helping,"—He looked back at me—"then I think it will go by much faster."

I gave him a smile and cracked my fingers. "Let's get to work then."