Chapter 40
The doorbell of our house rang. I got up from my desk with some reluctance. I didn't really want to be distracted, but this ring sounded intriguing: Suo doesn't ring; when she appears, she just walks in using her "double ring". Howard, after that incident, first calls on the phone and warns of a visit. And no one else drops by to visit us. So I was genuinely curious.
I opened the front door and froze. Behind it stood Nicole in a beige dress fashionable for the time, with a woven rectangular basket with a lid hanging on the crook of her right arm.
"Hello VictOr," she smiled. "I came to visit you. Will you let me in?"
"On business?" I clarified cautiously.
"No," she smiled even brighter. "Just visiting."
"Come in," I stepped aside, clearing the way into the house. "Sorry, I wasn't expecting guests, so the house is not tidied up."
"So, by flashing on the front page of the Daily Bugle, you weren't counting on guests? So I took it as an invitation for nothing?"
"Journalists," I chuckled. "An accident."
"An accident?" Nicole was surprised.
"Just went to the opera with my wife," I explained. "And there were these... Couldn't just turn back, could I?"
"With your wife?" Fury caught onto the word and made a surprised face. For nothing. Like I really believed that before coming she hadn't made inquiries and found out the details: who, what, and how.
I looked at her reproachfully, saying nothing.
"Alright, alright, sorry," she raised her hands in an "I surrender" gesture. "Naturally, I possess all the information known to Howard and partly that known to Howlett. But the thing is, these blockheads don't really know anything!!" the indignation in her voice was almost genuine.
I raised an eyebrow questioningly.
"And through S.H.I.E.L.D. channels we couldn't find out anything at all! Not even when and where you got married!" she interpreted my facial expressions correctly. "My favorite Uncle VictOr got married, and I know nothing about her!! Outrageous!"
I just shrugged and reached into the closet for a clean tablecloth.
"Will you tell me?" she said pleadingly, watching as I covered the table with a beautiful patterned fabric. "After all, it was her portrait that has been on the wall in your bedroom all these years?"
"Hers," I didn't deny the obvious. "We've known each other for a very long time."
"In that painting, she's wearing a mage's attire. Who is she?" Nicole asked, taking out a bottle of wine, fruit, foil-wrapped plates of something, and a small basket with pastries from her basket.
"The Ancient One. Sorcerer Supreme of the Earth Dimension!" said Suo in a cheerful voice with a drop of sarcasm and mockery, stepping out of the ring of fire that opened on the wall at that moment. "You didn't tell me we were having guests, darling," she addressed me in the same tone.
"Didn't know myself," I answered, approaching my wife and kissing her.
"Will you introduce us?" she asked, pulling away after the kiss.
"Why?" I didn't understand. Indeed: Suo had just introduced herself, and I would never in my life believe that she doesn't know who Nicole is.
"For the sake of observing politeness and propriety," she answered lightly, moving me away from setting the table. The next moment the dishes flew to their proper places by themselves.
Magic... I frowned and with difficulty suppressed a growl bursting outwards. Zen-forsaken Issei! Because of this bastard, now even my own wife's magic causes rage and a desire to kill. Developed a conditioned reflex, the scum.
I closed my eyes, mentally recited a mantra, calming down, opened my eyes and turned to the girls (although, what girls are they? One is over forty, the other over a thousand... on the other hand, they both look twenty-eight at most, so let them be girls).
"Suo, this is Nicole Fury—the girl who grew up in my arms. A war hero and Director of the S.H.I.E.L.D. organization," I gestured towards Nicole. She straightened up, and after the introduction performed a playful curtsy. "Nicole, this is Suo—my wife," I made the same gesture towards my sorceress. She bowed politely in the Chinese manner with a kung fu greeting.
"Thank you, Vic," Suo smiled. "I invite everyone to the table!"
"And where did you meet, Uncle VictOr?" Nicole inquired, placing a napkin on her lap and picking up the silverware.
"In Tibet," I answered laconically, ignoring the "rules of table etiquette" and simply pulling a plate with roasted duck towards me. I tore off a leg and began to chew it with pleasure. Along with the bones, fortunately, the strength of my jaws and the hardness of my teeth allow it.
"In Tibet?" Nicole asked again.
"Yes," Suo smiled. "He was the strangest monk I had ever seen in my life. Barged into Kamar-Taj, poured silver to the senior student and sent him for booze, and started hitting on the Sorcerer Supreme himself!"
"What, just barged right in? Into a secret settlement of mages? And no one did anything to him?" Nicole was genuinely surprised.
"Miss Fury..."
"Nicole, just Nicole," the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. smiled. "You can call me Nick, if you want."
"Then, just Suo. And 'tu' is better," the sorceress smiled back.
"Alright, Suo."
"So, Nick, you just didn't see him at that moment! The thought didn't even cross anyone's mind to try and even object to him!"
"Well, I've seen him in different states," Nicole answered, slightly piqued.
"LIKE THAT—unlikely," Suo smiled. "By the time you met, he had already settled down a lot. And he was shy about showing his 'unpedagogical' traits in front of a child. You could say it wasn't him raising you, but you raising him."
"I've never thought about it in that way," Nicole said. "But perhaps I should have... And what was he like?"
"Outrageously arrogant. Self-confident. A narcissistic boor! A highwayman, simply! At the same time, bald, in a monk's robe, with the eyes of a hungry wolf... Incredibly sexy!"
"And what? He just came to the secret settlement of mages like that, and?" Nicole blushed slightly.
"And seduced me," Suo admitted, smiling dreamily, apparently at her memories. "I offered him knowledge, magic, the mysteries of the Universe..."
"And he?"
"And I wanted to fuck," I couldn't stand such a discussion of my beloved self and jumped into the conversation. "Sat in a monastery for eight years. I didn't give a Zen about those 'mysteries' at that moment."
"And you? Agreed?" Nicole asked, even covering her mouth with her hand from an excess of emotion. "With a man you had just seen?"
"He was veeeery persistent!" Suo answered. "And myself... I hadn't been with a man for over a thousand years at that point. And here's such a specimen! Tall, blue-eyed, broad-shouldered, strong, not an ounce of fat, cheeky, persistent, confident, but not rough... An insanely sexy beast! I would have been a fool not to yield..."
"And then?" Nicole decided not to delve into the details.
"A week later, without saying goodbye, he left," Suo replied. "I remade the defenses of the settlement, shifted it in space to the neighboring mountain valley..."
"And?"
"A month later he came again. And didn't give a damn about all my efforts..." Suo feigned a sigh. "And another month later... That's how we got together."
Apparently, the sorceress decided not to retell the full history of our relationship after all. That's for the best.
"Hmm... Somehow it doesn't sound much like Uncle VictOr," Nicole pondered.
"That's what I'm saying," Suo shrugged. "A dissolute Buddhist monk came to Kamar-Taj. An abbot who retired by staging his own funeral arrived in France. Is there a difference?"
"Perhaps," Nicole agreed. "I never would have thought that Uncle VictOr was a monk. Let alone the abbot of a monastery..."
"I was a crappy monk. And an even crappier abbot."
"It's hard to disagree with the first," Suo smiled. "But I would still argue about the second."
"A good one wouldn't have run away, abandoning the monastery," I put an end to the argument. We fell silent.
"Suo... I've heard of the Ancient One in the line of duty..." Nicole broke the silence. "But I imagined someone who has been protecting an entire Dimension from external magical threats for over a thousand years somewhat differently... And there have been quite a few of them during this time..."
"Appearances can be deceiving," Suo poured herself some tea with a mysterious half-smile. "Looking at Victor, you wouldn't even say that he perfectly mastered the art of calligraphy. That the scrolls he left behind are still used as a standard to study this art."
"From my scribbles?" I was genuinely surprised. How bad are things over there that I became a "standard"?
"You are too hard on yourself," Suo ruffled my hair.
"Is that so? Indeed," Nicole feigned interest. "I knew his handwriting was calligraphic, but I didn't know he mastered the art itself. And what brought you two specifically to New York? Seemed like VictOr gravitated more towards old Europe, and the Ancient One towards mainland China?"
*Oh, Nicole, Nicole... You didn't come to visit just for nothing. Not for nothing at all,* I thought and my face probably changed, because the girl reacted instantly.
"If it's not a secret, of course," she raised both hands in an "I surrender" gesture.
"Not exactly a secret," Suo shrugged. "Not from S.H.I.E.L.D., at least. In New York stands one of the great magical Sanctums that protect our dimension from outside invasion. Naturally, it is in my area of responsibility and field of interest. Vic didn't care where, as long as it wasn't in Kamar-Taj... And this way he visited his brother at the same time."
"Brother?" Nicole latched onto the word. And a dangerous, gambling spark lit up in the eye that wasn't covered by the patch.
"I am Victor Lehnsherr. My brother is Erik Lehnsherr," it was too late to play secrets. Because, without suspecting it herself, Suo had completely given up Max Eisenhardt. After all, Nicole would dig it up one way or another now, having such a serious clue as the word "brother." "Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology."
"I didn't know you had brothers..."
"You didn't know about the wife either," I noted a little grumpily.
"And is he... like... like you?" Nicole clarified, carefully trying to choose her words.
"You'll find everything out yourself anyway, if, of course, you aren't actually pretending," I threw off any games and became very serious. "Erik is Max. Yes, he didn't die in '43. Yes, I knew about it. Yes, moreover, I raised him as best I could. Made him documents. Helped him get a secondary and higher education. And—yes, I kept in touch with him all these years. And now don't make a surprised face and tell me honestly, only honestly, without your spy tricks: did you not know? You didn't know that Lehnsherr is Eisenhardt?"
"I knew," Nicole looked away. "Naturally I knew. As soon as he appeared around Xavier, he was immediately checked in the most thorough way. The documents were perfect, the legend and recommendations too. But I just recognized him from a photograph." I silently raised an eyebrow, expressing skepticism.
"Alright!" Nicole surrendered. "From the moment you settled in France. I received a report from the caretaker of my house. I identified both you and Max from the picture. Then S.H.I.E.L.D. lost your trail as soon as I spent a vacation with you. As if you fell through the earth! They found you from the photo with Morihei in a Japanese newspaper, and Max a little later, when he met Xavier."
"See how easy it is to tell the truth?" I smiled encouragingly at the girl, just like a long time ago when she was still a little girl. "Don't play spies with me, then I will trust you more too."
"Alright," Nicole dropped any jokes. "Then tell me—what is this project you started with Stark Industries? It's not for nothing that you and Max have a controlling stake in this corporation?"
"Hmm... You probably won't believe me if I tell you," I sighed.
"Try me."
"The controlling stake was an accident. Just had money after the war, and I invested it in the company of a man whose genius I knew firsthand. That's the answer to the first question."
"Millions of dollars?" Nicole didn't believe it.
"Yes," I shrugged. "Erik was mastering his abilities, training, mining gold and silver. So we laundered them through a bank... And Howard completely justified the trust."
"Well, I believe it," Fury sighed. "Long-term planning was never your strong suit. Just like planning in general... You are a man of mood. And the project? There's even more money there: billions of dollars."
"A whim," I admitted completely honestly. "When we arrived in the city, and Suo started constantly disappearing on her 'sorcerous' business, I got bored..."
"A bored Uncle Victor is terrifying... And what did you come up with?"
"A game. That can be played on an electronic computer... But for that, you have to improve computers. Make them accessible to youth. Connect them into one global network. Well, and write the game itself. You can believe it or not, but I've said it all."
"I believe it," Nicole sighed and smiled. "I believe in such absurdity. Moreover—I am sure you will succeed. So much so that I am ready to buy in, both with personal capital and by attracting the capabilities of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the former Strategic Scientific Reserve."
"The government, the military..." I grimaced, as if I smelled shit. "Maybe to Zen with them?"
"Perhaps," Fury pondered. "Yes. You're right. The government and the military on the sidelines, but S.H.I.E.L.D. is in!"
Now it was my turn to ponder. S.H.I.E.L.D. is Hydra in the future... Ah, to Zen with it! Let Cap have a headache over that!
"Alright. But I won't sell you my stake!"
"Greedy! Uncle VictOr is greedy!" Nicole started whining, just like a very long time ago in childhood.
"And what, does that work?" Suo looked at Fury with interest.
"Well... You could beg an ice cream that way," Nicole looked away. "Well, or steer an airplane... Or shoot a machine gun..."
"You'll definitely teach me later," Suo declared categorically.
"Let me be greedy. Still won't sell!"
"Aww, Uuuncle VictOr!..."
* * *
These "fits" of stopped time are starting to really stress me out. And the main thing is—I can't figure out how it works. Let alone take control of it. So I have to suffer in silence, waiting out another "tactical pause" in a conversation, in the back seat of a car on the way somewhere, during a meeting with Stark's engineers... during sex!!!
It's a nightmare.
No, I understand that over time such a feature as completely stopping the time of the surrounding world can make me a super OP, whom it's more trouble than it's worth messing with even for omega-mutants like Jean Grey or Erik Lehnsherr. But that's "over time" and "in the future." Right now... it's extremely frustrating.
Because of these fits, I even had to temporarily stop sparring with Bruce, since he actually got injured during the last one.
How did it happen? Elementary. A "fit" happened right in the middle of sparring. The world around froze. Bruce accordingly too. With a tired sigh, I lowered my hands... And the "fit" ended. And my hands are down.
Bruce's fist flew exactly into my solar plexus. So much bewilderment was reflected on his face at that moment, because he landed it! The first time he landed a hit on me. True, the next second pain and torment were reflected on the same face: one shouldn't forget about my mutant toughness and strength. Plus, the fist collided with my body not at the calculated point, but slightly earlier. By about a centimeter. The guy dislocated his wrist with that hit.
The most interesting thing in this incident—Bruce took it as another "invaluable lesson"! And afterwards, he even thanked me! It's even somehow awkward to apologize after that. I can't declare that it was an accident and I just screwed up, can I?
I had to pitch him the principle of "irimi" from Aikido (which, by the way, is based exactly on making a direct entry, short and straight, meeting the attack a little earlier than the point where it acquires maximum force. And at the point of this meeting, the partner will be most vulnerable. In fact, he will break against the body of the nage, like a sea wave against a rock. Might even cripple himself with his own attack, roughly like Bruce just injured himself). The guy fell into deep thought. And I hurried to take my leave.
That was awkward.
* * *
In the living room of Charles Xavier's mansion, one of the walls lit up with a ring of fire, through which a young bald woman in an attire somewhat resembling the robes of Tibetan monks, but not repeating them, stepped onto the floor.
"Vic! Where have you been, I've been searching everywhere for you!" said Suo, and it was naturally her.
Exactly at this moment, the "freeze frame," as I called this state to myself, triggered once again.
Everyone in the room froze in exactly the position they were caught in by my wife's appearance, and I had a wonderful opportunity to enjoy the expressions on their faces.
What can be said? Amusing. But overly aggressive, in my opinion: Raven had already extracted from a blue concealed carry holster, which she imitated with her ability just as she imitates clothes during transformation, a blue Walther PP (I'll have to give her a PSM for some holiday in a couple of years; I remember it's supposed to enter service in the USSR right in '72. I think she'll like it. Ammo is harder to get, but the dimensions are significantly smaller, and the item is no less legendary than her current pistol); Erik separated from his "scale armor," which he never stopped wearing after the war ended, about fifty grams of metal and stretched it into a cone-shaped icicle-needle; Logan simply released his claws; Hank gathered himself for a jump; and Charles touched his head with his right hand, as he did when he was going to pointedly use telepathy (a parasitic habit in my opinion).
And one more previously unnoticed character immediately revealed himself. Pietro was again trying to swipe my wallet!!! *Cheeky. Life doesn't teach him anything!* I thought, tying his shoelaces together.
Having finished with that, I returned to my place and began waiting for the end of the "freeze frame."
Time moved.
Pietro plowed the floor with his nose and stayed lying under the wall breathing heavily. Didn't seem to break anything and didn't even scratch himself badly. Ten seconds later he disappeared in acceleration again.
"I left a note on the table, dear?" I answered Suo.
"A note? I didn't find anything."
"'Dear'?" Erik asked, returning the needle back into his "armor."
"Meet everyone, gentlemen," I rose from my chair. "Suo is my wife. And this is Charles Xavier—the director and founder of the School for Gifted Youngsters..."
"Very nice to meet you," Charles smiled. Logan clicked his claws, retracting them. Raven nodded, hiding the pistol that she never showed anyone.
"Hank McCoy—Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences..." Hank got up from his chair and bowed gallantly.
"James Howlett—a friend of mine since the war," Logan also bowed (can be polite when he wants to, the pest).
"Erik Lehnsherr—my brother. Maybe not by blood, but a brother," Erik repeated Hank's bow.
"Raven—his wife," the blue-skinned lady (and she always walked around the school in her true form, Zen nudist! Due to her complexes, she doesn't notice how the male half of the school students drool on the floor just seeing her appetizing blue forms... or she does notice and gets a kick out of it, but as soon as you hint that it's indecent to do so—she starts whining worse than Nicole in childhood) didn't stand up, but nodded.
"The kid that just plowed the floor with his nose—Pietro—her and Erik's son," a smiling white-haired kid materialized from thin air, waved a greeting, and dissolved into his speed again. "Accordingly, we are located in the living room of Charles Xavier's Private School for Gifted Youngsters."
"Very glad to meet you, gentlemen," Suo bowed politely in the Chinese manner. The ring of fire behind her had long closed and now there was an ordinary wall there again.
Logan, Hank, and Erik returned to their seats, and Charles, on the contrary, stood up and approached the guest. Led her to the table, pulled out a chair for her, and waited for her to sit down.
"Forgive my tactlessness generously, Suo, but are you a mutant too? What are your abilities?" he started his questioning, probably even got into her head, but something tells me he won't get anything out of it: there are plenty of telepaths, but the Ancient One is singular.
"She is not a mutant, Charles," I corrected Xavier. "She is a mage."
"Or more precisely, the Sorcerer Supreme of the Earth Dimension," Raven showed her awareness. "What?" she answered her husband's surprised look. "I saw her at the Battle of Dragons. Mages are frequent guests there."
"That's all correct, Raven," Suo smiled. "I really am the Sorcerer Supreme. But they call me the Ancient One more often."
"Forgive me again, Suo," Xavier smiled. "But it is hard for me to believe in the existence of magic. Perhaps you just have a very powerful ability that looks like magic externally?"
"Charles, will you allow me to call you that?"
"Yes, yes, of course."
"Charles, the difference between magic and mutant abilities is great. I won't describe all its aspects, I will give only one, the most obvious one."
"And what is that?"
"Abilities either exist or do not exist by nature. Moreover, for everyone they are individual, although they can be very similar in manifestation," Xavier nodded in agreement to this explanation. "Magic, however, is a science. Anyone willing to learn can be taught it. At the same time, the execution of the exact same spells by different people will be identical, differing only in power and clarity of execution."
"Is that so?" Xavier pondered. "Logical. But it is still hard for me to believe in what I haven't seen with my own eyes."
"If you retain an interest in this, I can arrange an excursion for you to Kamar-Taj later, where my students will demonstrate this clearly."
"I will be extremely grateful to you, Suo," Xavier smiled. "But you said 'students'?"
"Yes, Charles, you heard correctly. Effectively, Kamar-Taj is a school of magic."
"The strongest school of magic in the world," Raven noted from her place.
"Possibly," Suo didn't argue. "But by no means the only one."
"The fact that Kamar-Taj is a school makes this excursion even more valuable to me! To adopt the experience of senior comrades is a wonderful opportunity for development. Did I understand correctly—the Ancient One... is that because of age?"
"Yes, Charles, you understood correctly. I am indeed much older than my husband," Suo smiled. "Very much. But for some reason, it doesn't bother him at all."
"I don't give a Zen. You are my woman and full stop," I answered the jab.
"And, Charles... Be so kind as to stop trying to get into my head. Because I can make the defense active too. Believe me, it will be unpleasant for you."
"Forgive me, forgive me!" Xavier raised his hands. "It's just a bad habit! Just can't get rid of it!"
"Where we are going, you should keep your 'habits' to yourself too," I noted gloomily. "If you don't want to run into conflict and trouble."
"We are going somewhere?" Xavier was surprised.
"Yes. To the Battle of Dragons," I stated. "Since Raven blabbed to Erik about it anyway, he'll poke his nose in there sooner or later. This way you'll be under supervision. I'm not forcing you to participate. On the contrary, I highly recommend against it, but it's up to you to decide," a long speech. Exhausting to choose words for such long speeches. Exhausting for me. Maybe not so much for others, but exhausting for me.
"Are you joking?" Raven got worried. She looked at me intently. "No... You're not joking... But, Victor, if you are a twenty-time Champion of the Battle, it doesn't mean it's safe for the rest!!! They really cripple and kill people there!!"
"He said, just to watch," Suo answered softly. "From my box, it will be comfortable and safe."
"And if Erik gets involved anyway?"
"Well, you are his woman. Make sure he doesn't."
"When are we leaving?" asked Erik, glaring promisingly at his wife.
"Right now," I shrugged. "Suo, will you open a portal for us?"
"I thought you hated magic?" she was surprised, standing up and starting to trace a circle in the air with her double ring.
"It... can be convenient," I admitted, overcoming myself with great difficulty.
* * *