3rd POV:
Dr. Strange and Wong chased after the zealots through the Mirror Dimension. With the recent 'Modern Revelation' people have increasingly began looking for the more mystical wonders of the world.
And while that sham was all fine and dandy for making most humans play nice. It also made some humans chase the creatures trapped in the 'cognitive dimension' to try and summon them. Though the more practiced Sorcerers knew it was all a clown show.
A mummers farce.
The only reason not one of them said anything (to the public) was because, in his case they looked in the wrong places to summon demons, but in others eliminated competition. Or they simply didn't care.
It was just his luck that these zealots stole the Book of Resting Minds, not that this particular book had anything to do with cognition. It was merely a prison for the more weaker demons. Why the Sorcerer Supreme of that time, when demons were running around the world, chose to imprison them instead of killing them, as they were that weak, he knew not.
But Strange had merely inherited the artifacts and it was his duty to keep them from nefarious hands and protect earth from mystical threats. He also saw no reason to destroy this particular artifact, something that came to bite him now in the ass.
Anyway. These Zealots thought that by using this book they would summon Satan. Strange cast some spells while they were chasing them to read their mind. They thought that with Satanael being an archangel and Lucifer punishing people in hell as the devil, there must be Satan the demon. The one who seduces or tempts humans to do evil. They were hoping some sort of deliverance would happen if they did that. Strange didn't bother with the madmens thoughts past that.
The ramblings of up jumped zealots made for tedious listening.
For all his and Wongs skill the Zealots were elusive and possessed enough skill in sorcery to defend from some of their attacks.
Strange folded the Mirror dimension a little so that the ground would shift. Wong cast some spell to create a ground platform as Strange was lifted up by the Cloak of Levitation. While the Zealots were rolling around as the ground was getting steeper and steeper, the previous walls around them getting replaced for the ground, Strange cast a fireball at them.
One of the Zealots however managed to cast a water ball back. Strange and Wong quickly used the ensuing steam to transform it into butterflies that flew towards the enemy. The zealots were confused for a second only to then receive several explosions to their face as the butterflies exploded.
Strange cast a sling rope to try and grab the book only for one zealot to throw himself into it.
''Run!,'' the zealot screamed to the others as the sling rope was burning his body. Strange increased the energy in the rope and turned the zealot to ashes.
He still had some misgivings about killing, even after all this time as Sorcerer Supreme, but he understood that adhering to his hippocratic oath would endanger the entire earth. Perhaps even in some cases the entire dimension.
That did not mean he had to like it.
Wong cast a wind from the opposite direction to shove the zealots back towards them making them all stumble to the ground.
''Screw this! We will buy you time. Perform the ritual!,'' one zealot said standing up and joined by the others. Only one remained that opened the Book of Resting Minds and began drawing a symbol on the ground.
Strange and Wong quickly attacked, now pressed for time, but the zealots either defended the summoner from their spells or threw themselves into them.
While their numbers were getting thinned, they were not getting thinned quickly enough and soon demons exploded from their place flying out of the books pocket dimension functioning as a prison.
Wong and Strange quickly cast a telekinetic shield around them as the zealots were the first to die from these mindless beasts. They both could tell that all these demons were weak, but there were just so many. Enough to bloat out the sky completely with no gaps in between.
''At least look at it this way, we are in the Mirror Dimension. Which means we can easily capture them back,'' Wong said, trying to look at the positive.
''Perhaps. But I always wondered why the Sorcerer Supreme at that time bothered to imprison them seeing as they all are so weak,'' Strange said looking at Wong.
''You want to kill them and destroy the book?,'' Wong asked catching on,''Hmm. I suppose that is one solution, but in that case we will be here for a while, my friend.''
Strange smiled and began casting spells as Wong uphold the telekinetic barrier.
The first spell he cast functioned as a vortex that sucked in quite a lot of demons then that vortex turned into a spinning inferno that burned them to death.
The second was a tornado that with glass shards flying around. Under normal circumstances the glass shards would have done nothing, but he increased the speed as well as the sharpness.
The third spell he cast was meteors raining down from the sky. Unfortunately it wasn't as effective as Strange would have liked.
''They just keep coming. Why are they not attacking us?,'' Wong pointed out. It was true, Strange noticed. They seemed to do nothing but fly around aimlessly, after escaping the book.
After a few more spells, however the small bat like demons started shifting and flying at a certain spot.
''Are they converging? The book didn't mention that,'' Wong complained.
''Then clearly the records were incomplete,'' Strange pointed out. Great. Maybe he could us the Time Stone to slow them down and increase his kill ratio.
In the end however, he chose to wait and watch as the small bat like creatures seemed to ... merge. He chose do to that, because he reasoned that maybe the creatures would maybe stop come flying out, if they achieved their purpose. It seemed that the numbers were dimming in their quantity, so he felt confident in his choice.
The demons formed a grotesque gigantic humanoid creature. Though calling it humanoid was a stretch, what with how many flesh like limbs stuck out from all parts of its body. All limbs twitching and spasming. It gave an unholy screech in triumph as it achieved what it sought to do.
Strange cast a lighting bolt to his face. And while it did damage him, some demons flew out from the book to meld with the gigantic creature again.
''You know, I'm starting to think that maybe that is why the Sorcerer Supreme at that time imprisoned them. It seems we can't defeat them by conventional means. Wong buy me some time, I will cast a more powerful spell that will send the demons back into the book and close the pocket dimension,'' Strange ordered, making Wong nod. Strange few some meter away and entered a deep meditative state as he began chanting.
Meanwhile the demon seemed to move for the first time. And it was quick for its size. It slammed its fists down at Wong and he barely had time to cast a telekinetic shield again. Before Wong could do anything the creature slapped him away while he was still inside the telekinetic ball. He cast a very powerful gust of wind sending the demons back, as it lunged for Strange. He knew he wasn't in any real danger, but if he had to dodge or cast another spell, he needed to start from the beginning.
The creature growled as it was enraged and lunged for Wong. This time however the creature grabbed the ball and started squeezing. So it was fast and strong. Wong had to increase the telekinetic integrity of the shields as they were about to give. Then he did it again as the creature just kept increasing its strength. Wong grunted at the exertion he was forced into.
There was a loud attention grabbing noise as the shattering of glass could be heard. Both Wong and the creature looked to a direction, where the space looked like a wall and a mirror, that was shattered into a million pieces, but still stuck together. Someone was behind that wall, though who it was Wong could not see.
The wall shattered again, though this time much smaller as a person stepped through.
For a few seconds they had a small standoff. The the stranger suddenly pointed his index at the demon and said with a small head tilt:''One Slash is enough.''
The creatures attention was grabbed as it moved for the stranger. He leisurely walked forwards as purple energy flew out from his glove, while he summoned his sword. When the creature was just about to hit him, the stranger gave one swung and a gash opened up in the sky.
Though it was more accurate to say the energy slash tore through the demon entirely and left a cut in the mirror dimension. They demon was almost entirely eviscerated as blood spilled everywhere. Already the mirror dimension repaired itself as more small demons flew out. Though the stranger slammed his foot down on the book.
Wong felt a little silly, as that seemed to work. Sure the demons clawed at the strangers boot, but at least it seemed that no more demons would come.
Around this time Strange finished the incantation to his spell and the small remains of creatures flew back into the book as it closed.
Reaver had to admit, it was just a bit anticlimatic how the spell worked, but he supposed not everything needed to be over the top.
Reaver pointed his sword at Strange and Wong.
''Comply or die,'' Reaver told them, making Strange release an annoyed sigh.
''Mr.O'Quinn could we please do away with the dramatics and just come to the point?,'' Strange asked. Reaver pointed his sword down a little at the Eye of Agamotto.
''No, Mr.O'Quinn I still can't spy on you with the Eye of Agamotto.,'' Strange told him. That didn't mean he had no means of spying on him. He just needed to get creative in doing so.
Flashback:
''One of the biggest headaches you will encounter will be reality warpers, cosmic entities or gods. They are volatile and elusive. Hard to defeat, let alone attack,'' The Sorcerer Supreme told Strange, while he was still in his apprenticeship.
''How come?,'' Strange asked curiously.
''While we need energy from somewhere else, as we will never have enough of our own, they can generate their own energy,'' The Sorcerer Supreme began, only to get interrupted by Strange.
''But science says that is not possible,'' Strange said.
''You are still thinking like a doctor, Strange. This is the mystical, you are dealing with. It is illogical. You and I and a lot of threats out there, like Dormammu, still have to obey some laws of the world. They don't,'' The Sorcerer Supreme told him.
''So, you mean to tell me even the Infinity Stones won't stop them? Then how do we defeat them?,'' Strange asked.
''The Infinity Stones can make someone omnipotent and omniscient, but only in their respective dimension. If you go to another dimension than you need to collect that dimension Infinity Stones. As ours would lose their authority in theirs. They are not restricted by something like this. Thus the first step when dealing with them id always to negotiate.
If nothing else, you can take comfort in the fact that they don't bother with ants and thus most likely won't kill us. Others however made their home here on earth,'' Sorcerer Supreme told him.
''You mean to say there are reality warpers and cosmic entities and gods on earth? As in right now?,'' Strange asked her, a little our of breath.
Hmmm. The Sorcerer Supreme contemplated a little. She did pick up a reality warpers birth a few years ago with the Eye of Agamotto. And after some scrying, she decided not to kill the baby. Whatever his faults, he seemed to be a net positive to earth and never let it get destroyed in any of the timelines. How he achieved that was another matter as that always seemed to vary,but that was not her concern. She knew that by now he was a fully fledged reality warper and with her going to die soon, it would do Strange good to understand the gravity of the situation.
''Do you wish to see one right now? We can enter the Astral plane and spy on him,'' Sorcerer Supreme asked him.
...
Strange had to admit, Bell O'Quinn was quite unassuming aside from his winered eyes. Hard to believe, but The Sorcerer Supreme assured him that that was a genuine mutation, like green eyes or blue eyes were.
Strange approached a little to have a better view of him as the Sorcerer Supreme stood back. He was hoping to catch something from Bell. Maybe a weird energy reading or the like.
Bells arm moved with lightning speed as he grabbed Stranges Astral Form by the throat. Before he could say or do anything he gasped as he was forcibly shoved back into his body. The Sorcerer Supreme following him and giving him a mirthful chuckle.
But not before having a small conversation with Bell to clear up any possible enmity between them. She explained that the Time Stone and the Astral Plane could be methods to spy on him. She may have misjudged a little, how much he hates getting spied on, so she offered this knowledge as a form of peace, even if that meant getting rid of two methods to spy on him. But that was fine, it just meant she needed to get more creative.
Meanwhile expanded his automatic telepathic detection system of threats. He contemplated turning himself invisible in the timeline, but that would only advertise his presence to other beings. Much better to detect a peeping tom and then deal with them accordingly.
Flashback End:
The three of them stood around a bit while having their standoff. Eventually threw his sword into the ground amidst the blood. Fitting as it was supposed to be a sword drenched in blood, since it saw many battles. Reaver groaned and threw his head back.
''Urgh! You are ruining this for me. Fine let's do away with the dramatics. I am here to talk,'' Reaver revealed. Oh, well. Strange still did not register as a threat on his automatic telepathic detection system, so he was not gonna be too rude. Especially since he wanted something from him. The art of negotiating. and all that.
---
Wong poured some tea for Bell and Strange. Seeing as it was pointless to keep his disguise he did away with it. Bell was just going to use Reaver somewhere else then. The previous skirmish not really doing enough to satisfy him.
''So, what are you here for?,'' Strange asked taking a sip of his tea. Ignoring their first meeting, he had no problem with Bell, even if his shenanigans caused him a small amount of headache.
''I'm here because I want to know what the Darkhold is. Someone attempted to attack Wanda to acquire it from her,'' Bell explained. He was the Sorcerer Supreme even if spying on them was difficult, Bell knew that Strange knew about them and saw no need to bring him up to speed.
Ah. Wanda Maximoff. Another reality warper and then there was Jean Grey too. All on the same team. He wondered if other variants of himself had to deal with this bullshit.
''And what do you hope to accomplish once you have the Darkhold?,'' Strange asked.
''That depends. All I want really is to remove a threat to my girlfriend. I could be convinced to give it to you for safekeeping. Knowing its location is better then destroying it and having it reform somewhere else,'' Bell told him. Cthon was an elder god, Bell knew that. Which meant battling him would be a challenge. Thought he would admit that his meta knowledge did not extend much beyond that.
''That is impossible. Even for one such as you or Wanda, the book is meant to stay in our dimension and serve as a link between ours and The Flickering Realms. The dimension Chthon fled to after his battle with the Demogorge.
The Darkhold has a corrupting influence. Anyone who reads it will draw in dark energy and Chthon can hijack their body as his vessel to return to our dimension. Even if you manage to destroy the book somehow, so long as Chthon lives the book and all its dark contents will find its ways back to our dimesion.
But not any vessel will do. Chthon wants one that can withstand his energy. Wanda Maximoff and her ability to use Chaos Magic made her well suited for his purposes, which is precisely why he gave her the ability to use said magic on the Wundagore Mountain when she was a baby.
Something you accelerated when you told her what she was and encouraged her to use her Chaos Magic more,'' Strange explained making Bell nod.
''Right. I already knew that Wanda was a conduit for Chthon, but so long as she doesn't read the Darkhold then everything will be fine,'' Bell absentmindedly agreed, thinking over the contents of their talk.
''Her not reading the book is not enough. Yes, reading the book will massively accelerate Chthon being able to take over her as a vessel, but eventually the more she grows the more likely it is that she can be taken over anyway.
And if someone was trying to use Wanda as a means to summon the Darkhold, something she is uniquely suited for seeing as they both operate on the same energy, then the Darkhold will land in her lap anyways. For her the Darkhold is most seductive and neither you, I or her can guarantee that she can resist the seduction,'' Strange quickly explained before Bell started making any plans.
While he found it weird how Bell knew about Chthon and Wanda being a conduit for him but not about the Darkhold, he instead chose to see this as an opportunity. If he played his cards right then the three of them could take care of a threat to earth and walk away with everyone getting what they want.
Bell nodded. He quickly summarized the new info in his head.
Chthon made Wanda a conduit of his powers for his purposes when she was a baby on Wundagore Mountain. The Darkhold is meant to corrupt and imbue a person for Chthon to take over as a vessel. Wanda is perfect for she already got acclimated to Chaos Magic since infanthood, meaning she can endure the dark energy of Chthon without disintegrating. Her weakness was that the Darkhold had a seductive pull on Wanda since it was exerting influence on her. And Someone out there wanted to put Wanda in danger, because they either wanted to summon Chthon or use the Darkhold for their own means.
''I may have an offer,'' Strange revealed making Bell nod after he was brought out of his musings.
''It is in all our interest to do away with Chthon,'' Strange began and then let the silence hang for a bit. Bells jaw twitched with amusement.
Say what you want, but Strange was immensely skilled. He may never be as powerful as him, Wanda or Jean, but the tools he had at his disposal he made sure to use masterfully. Particularly the Time Stone to see the future. Though it would be more accurate to say he was looking at the branching timelines as fate was not a thing here.
Strange had a duty. Protect earth at all costs. Bell knew that if Strange was forced he would sacrifice him and Wanda. It was not out of malice and he knew it was a last resort, for he didn't register on his defenses as a threat, but it was true all the same. This was an attempt to manipulate him and Wanda so that Strange could uphold his duty as Sorcerer Supreme.
Fair enough. Game recognized game. Bell would do the same, to uphold his duty to his family and his own interests.
Bell gestured with his head for Strange to continue.
''You are powerful as is Wanda, but make no mistake, though Chthon may have some restrictions, you two are no match for him. Especially since he has millenia of experience. Which means laying a trap. One of the best ways to deal with people like you, though far easier said then done. And you do have an ability that no one can move past,'' Strange said leadingly. Bell nodded, immediately grasping his implication.
''You mean for me to lie to Wanda...''
''And me.''
''...And you with a plan. Meanwhile I come up with the true plan and lay a trap for Chthon to walk into. And then what?,'' Bell asked. He could see where Strange was trying to lead him. He remembered when he told Wanda that a battle between members of the 1% was a battle of will and creativity. Laying convoluted and technical traps was one thing that counted amongst that.
''And then nothing. That is for you to figure out. I merely suggested one path we can move forward. Don't ask questions. Chthon will read my and Wanda mind and then the jig is up. Keep the true plan to yourself. Either way I suspect you have years, perhaps a decade for you to worry about Chthon. By then you should have come up with something. I'm sure,'' Strange told him.
Bell starred blankly at Strange for a few seconds and then his eye twitched suddenly.
That motherfucker was trying to offload some of his work on him. Lazy ass.
''Well, thank you for filling out some of the missing info for me. But that is not the only reason I'm here. Can you teach Sorcery to some of my girlfriends?,'' Bell requested.
''Sure. Though I am a busy man, so I won't be the one teaching them. Wong however is someone I trust implicitly, he can oversee their training. But I have to warn you, Sorcery is not something one picks up over the course of their summer break. At best it will take a year of dedication from them, perhaps more. I suppose in that regard you are lucky that they all have a good affinity for Sorcery,'' Strange accepted without much fanfare making Bell raise his eyebrow.
''You agreed quiet quickly,'' Bell pointed out.
''Because you are a nightmare. You and your girlfriends are much freer then the usual threats I have to deal with. The best way with you is diplomacy and I don't need you rampaging on earth.
Prevention is better then the cure after all.
Much as I dislike you personally, the previous Sorcerer Supreme seemed to trust you and having used the Time Stone and seeing the actions you have taken and their effects for myself, I can understand why she thought that.
Millions of timelines and not once have you destroyed earth.,'' Strange explained.
''You do know fate is not a thing, right?,'' Bell asked.
''Correct. But that doesn't mean there aren't entities out there that don't manipulate probability. Just look at Wanda she is fated to fight Chthon for her agency over her body.
And no offense to your girlfriends, but having looked at some of their variants timelines, you are the most stable out of all of them. Despite our grievances working together would be much more preferable,'' Strange explained, implying that in other timelines Bells variants was not together with his girlfriends and stopped them from destroying the earth.
Honestly? Yeah, Bell could see that. With every choice ever made creating a new branching timeline, running parallel to their dimension, Bell was sure there were variants of himself that made all kinds of choices. As well as variants of Gwen, Wanda and so on and so forth.
Infinity within infinity within infinity.
Anyway.
That also meant that Gwen would have to take a year off after graduating high school to learn sorcery. Laura could start this very same year seeing as this was her last year. Actually make that Rogue as well. Sure she may have the additional abilities he granted her, but she was uniquely suited to have these ability granted to her. What worked for her would not work for the others.
Sure, Bell understood how to use pretty much all abilities, but that did not mean he was omniscient. Granted that was by design, even Stan used the Living Tribunal. He knew very little about Sorcery and how it worked.
Bell thanked Strange and complimented Wong on his tea before leaving.
He needed to fill Wanda in on what he found.
---
Wanda frowned as the two sat on their couch in their HQ. She was digesting the information Bell shared with her.
''It is a pity, we don't know who the enemy is, aside from Chthon, but that is still a lot of information,'' Bell tried to comfort her.
''Perhaps. Still, it is weird to find out something like this about yourself. So I'm just meant to be taken as a vessel by a demon lord?,'' Wanda asked him worried for herself.
''Calm down. Panicking won't help us,'' Bell told her. He immediately wanted to kick himself in the teeth.
When in the history of ever, did telling someone to calm down, actually calm someone down?
''Shut up! It is easy for you to say. You don't have a literal demon breathing down your neck! And you were the one that encouraged me to explore my abilities, when that was just accelerating the possession. And then ... and then there is the Darkhold. It ... it's just going to seduce me and I can't resist it's allure and then I'm going to be taken over by a demon and then ... Oh god, this is all a mess,'' Wanda was starting to get hysterical and began pacing.
Well, Bell had his own worries about the situation, but steady minds would prevail better. that was always his experience.
''You are correct. But you heard what Dr.Strange said. There is a way to defeat him, We just need to lay a trap,'' Bell told her calmly.
''How? You said he can read our minds?,'' Wanda bit out.
''Your mind. Not mine,'' Bell told her, making her stop pacing and look at him. Bell took her hand and gently pulled her back on the couch.
''We have time. A decade said Dr.Strange. By then we will come up with a solution,'' Bell told her while rubbing her shoulder.
''Right. But I am not just some damsel in distress. I will try and pull my own weight,'' Wanda told him, leaning into him. Bell nodded.
''Of course. I expect nothing else. For now however you should stick with telepathy and telekinesis. I know you will hate restricting yourself, but in the grand scheme of things these ten years will mean nothing afterwards,'' Bell told her.
There was a comfortable silence reigning over them for a while.
''What if dealing with Chthon will mean me losing my power? Will you think... Sorry dumb question,'' Wanda asked only to interrupt herself. Right Laura and Gwen where in his harem and he seemed to love them no less for it.
''I doubt you will lose your reality warping and even if, you can always learn sorcery,'' Bell told her making her nod her head. She leaned further into him, enough to force him to lay down on the couch. In the end the two cuddled as she was held in comfort by Bell.
Alight then. Better come up with a trap that would ensure Wanda keeps her ability and Chthon will be beaten. After some seconds of contemplation he created a puppet clone and sent him back to the Sanctum Sanctorum. He was sure Strange would allow him to study the records so that he could gain more knowledge about the mystical.
Then again considering that Strange suggested he have a decoy trap and an actual trap this would mean he needed two decoy traps and one actual trap, since Chthon will read Stranges mind.
Oh well, let's just get to work.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
''Come on. It will be, like, like totes awesome to visit Jean and her friends. What do you guys say?,'' Kitty asked the X-Men. For one reason or another a majority of them could not or would not come, at least not this time.
in the end only Laura, Kitty and Rogue would visit Jean.
...
''And she should be here I think,'' Kitty said looking at the address on her note. Rogue and Laura exchanged a glance. True Jean was sleeping in their HQ and going to school at Midtown High, but they needed an excuse for when someone wanted to visit her. So in the end Bell made a pocket dimension close to Gwens own apartment and made it unnoticeable to anyone, except a few. Jean did after all tell, the X-Men about the friend and neighbour she made named Gwen Stacy. Since Jean was an adult and this was her last semester she had every right to own her own home, or apartment in this case.
Kitty rang the doorbell a few times. A little unnecessary since Jean and them agreed to meet at 13 o'clock, but still it was just polite.
Jean opened the door and Kitty presented her with a bottle of alcohol. It paid off to negotiate with Logan about giving Jean a gift.
''Hello, you all. Come in. Kitty thank you for the gift,'' Jean said taking the bottle of wine in her hand and putting it on the kitchen sink. The girls came in and sat on the couch. There wasn't much, which made sense seeing as Jean was not supposed to have a lot of money, but all the same it was cozy.
''So, how is Midtown High?,'' Kitty asked Jean.
''It is good. As I told you. I made friends with Gwen and then I made friends with her friends. Sure a few people recognized me from the news, but I am largely left in peace. Minus a few people who called me freak, but they don't dare do anything with the recent climate,'' Jean told them.
''Tell us about Gwen and her friends,'' Kitty requested.
''Well, there is Gwen obviously. Peter and his girlfriend Sophia. Though she prefers going by Chat. And then there is Gwens own boyfriend, Bell. They are quite fun to hang around with,'' Jean told Kitty. The girls noticed how she looked a little curious at Chats name, but didn't seem to react otherwise.
''Will they visit us too? I mean, Gwen is only a few doors down the hall,'' Kitty asked her.
''It would be fun meeting her. Maybe if we are lucky her boyfriend will be there as well and we can meet two of them at once,'' Rogue said. Bell better appreciate them all for lying and going along with this farce. He better keep his word not to pull another shit like he did with Zero again. In the end they all decided to just so happen to 'coincidentally' meet up with Bell through one method or another. It seems this one won out, with Jean befriending Gwen and then so on and so on.
''I mean, it is not unreasonable. She is usually home on the weekends. One sec,'' Jean requested getting out her phone and typing away. After a few seconds she received a reply back.
''Well, seems we are in luck. It seems both Gwen and Bell were home. They will be here in a minute,'' Jean said.
Indeed while the girls talked a bit about how the X-Mansion was after the whole Sinister incident and Jean leaving, it did not take long until the door bell rung.
''Yo, Jean. Are these the friends you told us about?,'' Gwen asked after being let in. As there were no more places to sit, Jean created telekinetic chairs for them to sit on.
''Thanks, flaming bird,'' Bell said after shaking all of the girls hands and taking a seat.
Kitty looked surprised that Jean would so brazenly display he power.
''Why are you looking at me like that. If a few from my school have seen me on the news, then that means that they all know about my powers. At least they don't know about my telepathy,'' Jean defended herself.
''Also Bell, stop calling me flaming bird,'' Jean then switched her attention. The Phoenix did not like being called that. She was far more majestic then a mere bird.
''A shame Peter can't be here. There is too much estrogen in this room. A man could feel viciously beset upon in these circumstances,'' Bell joked making all girls smile fondly at him.
''Bell, shut up. Anyway, it is nice to finally meet you three. Jean told us about you all. I can tell you are good people and it is a shame that there are people out there that would persecute you for who you are,'' Gwen told them, mostly Kitty though. They all nodded appreciatively.
''Yeah. I wish more people would think like you,'' Kitty said to Gwen.
''If you ask me, then they are retarded. People with power are no different with people with knifes. It is a tool and it depends on the person on how you use it. But things seem to picking up for your people so hang in there,'' Bell told them.
Kitty nodded eagerly.
''Right? I'm glad you get it,'' Kitty agreed.
Awkward silence settled then. It wasn't as if the girls and Bell practiced it, but Kitty just being here, made them unsure how to proceed. Bell basked in their awkwardness and social stumble.
''So...?,'' Kitty began.
''So...,'' Rogue repeated.
''This is awkward. Jean quick, give us an activity,'' Bell pointed at her.
''Why me specifically? You are the menace usually. You come up with an activity,'' Jean replied back.
''Oh hell no! I have an activity in mind. I've seen the bottle of wine, when I came in. Let us play 'Never have I ever...','' Gwen sugested.
''I don't think we have enough glasses for 10 shots,'' Jean warned.
''Thar is fine. Create telekinetic shot glasses for us to drink. We will fill it and keep track on paper. We will count to 5 instead of 10,'' Laura said.
''But how does this game work? I never played it?,'' Kitty asked. Hell she never drank period, so she didn't even know if she could hold her liquor, but everyone else seemed to be on board so she was under peer pressure.
''So everyone has five lives. If you lose all of them then you lost. Then one who remains is the winner. You say something that you have never done and if someone else did then they lose a life. BUT if no one did it then you lose a life. We all go clock wise, so it is nice that we are already in a circle,'' Rogue explained, making Kitty nod.
Jean flew in the bottle from the kitchen and poured them all a shot of wine in their shot glass. Actually she wondered if she would get inebriated enough to lose concentration.
''So who starts first?,'' Laura asked.
''Ladies first,'' Bell said making them all cast him a deadpan look.
''Screw this I'm starting,'' Rogue 'stepped' forward,'' Never have I ever had sex.''
''Oh wow, You immediately went there. Also, you just lost a life,'' Bell vindictively pointed our as no one drank. Actually one second. Was he a virgin, since he had sex in his previous life? Like there was no way he was drinking since he was clearly did not sex in this life, but he just wanted to know. After a few 'hours' of introspection in his mind he settled for declaring himself a semi-virgin.
Did it make sense? No. But screw everyone, he was going to stick with that conclusion.
''...,'' Rogue drank her glass while blushing, as the others laughed at her.
''How? You were the one that explained the rules to me,'' Kitty asked perplexed.
''Look sometimes the game gets confusing, alright,'' Rogue defended herself weakly.
''The game is meant to get confusing after a few shots of alcohol, not before we even start,'' Gwen pointed out, making her blush.
''I'm next. Never have I ever ... kissed someone,'' Kitty said after a few seconds of debating semantics in her head. She smiled as they all drank. Rogue already down two lifes.
''Never have I ever done a wheelie on a motorcycle,'' Laura said. She wanted to do it however, as Logans bike caught her ineterest, but she was just going to have to buy her own motorcycle. Bell drank, making the others look surprised at him.
''When did you do a wheelie?,'' Jean asked curiously. When I was very young and my father was still alive. Mother was apoplectic, when she found out. He did it, because he chose to sell the motorcycle, but wanted one memory with me on it,'' Bell explained.
''Ok, first of. It wasn't you that did it echnically. Second of. That was insanely irresponsible,'' Jean said, making Bell shrug his shoulders. Meh. No parent was perfect and it was a little fun. Father did everything to ensure he was safe and only did a two second wheelie. He was three at that time.
''Fine then. Never have I ever kicked someone in the balls,'' Jean smirked. Rogue sighed and drank another shot, as well as Laura.
''Never have I ever cried over a doll getting destroyed,'' Bell smirked as Gwen drank. He was never going to let her live that down.
''Never have I ever made money of my hobby,'' Gwen said as Bell was forced to drink.
''Can we know?,'' Kitty asked surprised, quickly wanting to learn more about Bell.
''I can play music and opened a YouTube channel where I post music,'' Bell shrugged. He didn't really care about his secondary channel all that much. By know he published everything he remembered from his old world. One of the benefits of speed processing was that he could quickly come up with stories and waste little time in editing and bettering them. By now he was releasing original shows and games. And they were quiet the success, some where a little average, but no any was a miss. Now Bell felt no more unease at the pseudo plagiarism, which was nice.
As these games usually go, people quickly lost track of how many lives each one had. In the end they said screw it and decided to drink the bottle empty.
''Never have I ever had an operation, Rogue said making Gwen and Laura drink. Gwen broke her ankle when doing ballet and Laura counted her getting her adamantium claws as an operation.
''Never have I ever killed someone,'' Kitty said making Jean and Laura drink.
''Never have I ever cried,'' Lara said making all except Bell drink.
''Never have I ever shot or nearly shot someone,'' Jean said making Kitty drink. She explained that when she was very young, she got her hands on her fathers gun and nearly shot herself in the chest. And she said his father was irresponsible, Bell pointed out.
''Never have I ever ... jumped on a trampoline,'' Bell said. Everyone except Laura and Gwen drank.
''Never have I ever went skydiving,'' Gwen said making Kitty and Laura drink. The others either flew, which was not skydiving or in Bells case he chose to lie, though everyone except Kitty knew he was lying.
The played a few more rounds until the bottle was finally empty. The awkward silence no longer present as they now where on slightly more familiar terms. No one really was affected by the alcohol as the all used various methods to stay sober. Except Kitty, she was red as a water hydrant. Clearly she could not hold her alcohol well.
''Well, that was fun,'' Bell declared. Sure no one won, but the all had fun. Sike, you thought. Photographic memory baby. It was Jean that won, but he wasn't gonna tell her that.
The others nodded.
''Yeah we learned a little more about ourselves and can confidently say that fathers are just completely irresponsible. The fact that all of us are here despite their carelessness is a miracle,'' Rogue said. Granted Laura and Jean was not included in that, but it was either guns (turns out Gwen was in the same boat as Kitty, though she never got to touch the gun), motorcycle or in her case a cow that almost trampled her to death, as she came from a farm.
''Indeed. Guess men are more fun then you guys,'' Bell told them.
''No, Bell You won't get to be irresponsible like this once we have children. You can have fun without endangering them,'' Kitty giggled drunkly and starring at him affectionately.
Huh? Bells face was completely bewildered, mirrored by the girls. Then a realization crossed his mind. People spoke their mind more freely when they were drunk. It wasn't a rule that was always 100% true but it was a general rule of thumb. She knew he was Nexus with how fanatic she was about him and that meant she knew Gwen was Ghost Spider as well.
But how?
Screw this he was going to use this opportunity to question her. Or she will let something slip that would make the puzzle pieces fit.
Bell shook his head, when the girls starred at him. He was going to take the initiative in this conversation.
''Hm. It will take some time till we get there,'' Bell said casually.
''Humph. You silly goose. You still haven't moved past kissing me. Haven't even, like, moved to the X-Mansion since you have the X-Gene and stuff. Stupid butterfly effect,'' Kitty murmured at the end. All they got instead was Zero. No, she shouldn't think like that, he helped her immensely, but she still wanted Bell instead of Zero at the X-Mansion.
What? As in time travel butterfly effect?
Bells eyes moved around a lot as he was going over the possibilities.
Oh.
It could be possible that she chronowalked, since theoretically her ability would allow her to do that, but that would make no sense. She was genuine in not knowing about the true extent of her abilities. Was it pure instinct then?
Then again since she didn't have enough energy she 'chronowalked' instead of chronowalking.
Poor thing.
His variant probably pretended to have the X-Gene. He was probably still playing around as Nexus and got together with Gwen, Kitty and who knows who else and then something happened that made Kitty 'chronowalk'.
But, then why did the variant Bell not come to retrieve her? Actually no, he was gonna stop that train of thought.
His variants were not him. Who knows how they thought or how far behind they were in understanding their powers. He would spend literally an eternity on 'What ifs' if he paid attention to what his variants did.
No. This was not a conversation he could have with Kitty while she was drunk. He needed her sober for this.
''Rogue, Laura, take Kitty and bring her back to the X-Mansion, then come to the HQ. We need to talk,'' Bell ordered them. They nodded only for Kitty to slip through their hands as she walked through the table and clung to Bell. She looked him in the eyes while her eyes were tearing up.
''NO! I don't want to lose you again. Please don't leave me,'' Kitty pleaded.
Right. Better treat this situation more delicately.
''I'm not going anywhere, but you are drunk. I just want you to go home and rest up a bit. I worry about you,'' Bell told her softly. He took her hand and slowly put her hand in Lauras. this time their hands connected.
''Do you promise to take me on a date? You never took me on one,'' Kitty pleaded, hoping to have things return to how they used to be.
Bell shared a look with the girls. A date was not a declaration of anything. He could give her one without committing to anything if it meant she would comply.
''Sure. Now please go and rest Katherine,'' Bell ordered her. She immediately nodded. He always called her Katherine when his patience was getting thin.
The remaining girls watched her leave.
---
''You mean to say, she can chronowalk? As in time travel?,'' Rogue asked when they all met up in their HQ. The rest of the girls were there as well. Bell nodded.
''Why not just call it time travel then?,'' Gwen asked.
''Because of how her abilities work. She is not turning back time, she is slipping through time. Confusing, but there is a difference. Not that it matters anyway, since doesn't have the required energy for time travel,'' Bell answered making the girls understand. So she dimension traveled.
''So what now?,'' Laura asked.
''Now? We wait a few days and then we confront her. No need to draw this out, longer then it needs to,'' Bell explained. Drama was fun.... when it wasn't occurring in his life at least. The quicker he dealt with this the better.
''Do you think your variant actually died or something?,'' Jean asked. Bell shrugged.
''It doesn't matter. Let me tell you something. The way the world works, all of you are likely to encounter variants of yourselves. They are NOT you, even if they share the same DNA. You are different in the soul and in the choices you made. The power level is also different. Maybe my variant hasn't reached the point where he was a fully fledged reality warper and made himself virtually immortal. Who knows, who cares, it doesn't matter. All we need to do is deal with this situation,'' Bell replied.
The girls nodded. In that case the situation was out of their hands and it was up to Bell to make a choice.
Whatever it may be.