New York City, Friday Afternoon (Fandom Time)
It was only slightly surprising when Tommy chose to be a superhero, given the options Eli had offered, and it was only slightly surprising when Tommy's abilities proved to be majorly useful in rescuing Teddy from the Super-Skrull.
It had been a lot more surprising when the people who successfully got the Super-Skrull off their backs via a well-placed blaster shot turned out to be the Kree, and it had been even more surprising when they'd also claimed Teddy as their own. There was a Romeo and Juliet joke just waiting to be made once the threat of a second Kree-Skrull war on Earth was over, but it didn't seem like that was going to happen any time soon.
It had been very surprising when the Super-Skrull turned out to not be dead, and jumped in front of Teddy to protect him from the blast of a Kree warrior's gun, and it had been very surprising when Teddy insisted on taking the Super-Skrull with them as they tried to escape, because he'd saved Teddy's life or some similar nonsense that Billy didn't understand but didn't have time to argue about, because the Vision was ushering them onto one of the Kree warships, explaining that he could fly it once he accessed the mainframe, while Tommy argued with Cassie that it didn't really count as stealing if they weren't intending to keep the ship.
At this rate, Billy was going to be grounded for at least two lifetimes.
Sure enough, it only took the Vision a few moments to learn how to operate the ship, and Billy could hear him and the others arguing in the cockpit about where to go from here - whether to go to Avengers Tower, or to just get as far away from everything as possible - but he couldn't offer his own two cents, because Teddy was keeping him a little busy.
"I want him to heal, I want him to heal, I want him to heal," he said, holding his hand over the scorch mark on the Super-Skrull's chest.
Teddy looked at the Super-Skrull with growing concern. "The spell isn't working."
"Probably because I don't want it to work," Billy muttered. The idea that his magic could work to heal the Super-Skrull, but not the woman he'd killed seemed utterly unfair, and Billy was pretty sure his reluctance was preventing anything good from happening.
The Super-Skrull shifted where he was sitting, and sighed. "Do not trouble yourselves. My body will regenerate in time."
"It's a shame Teddy's mother can't say the same," Billy said bitterly.
Teddy shot him a dirty look. "Billy!"
"The mage is right," the Super-Skrull said, looking surprisingly sad. "I did not intend to kill your surrogate. I have murdered my kinswoman and failed in my mission."
"Your mission to kidnap me?" Teddy asked.
"No, in my mission to save you, as your father tried to save me," the Super-Skrull explained. "The Kree were not lying to you. You father was Captain Mar-vell, and your mother, had she survived, would have been Empress. My mission was to make you our emperor, but the Kree will never allow this. If they cannot have you, cannot control you, they will kill you."
"And the Skrulls won't do the same?" Billy asked. "It's not that I don't think we can trust you but, you know, there's a whole lot of history to back me up."
"No harm will come to the child while I am around," the Super-Skrull said, "and not while you have the Young Avengers protecting you, as the Avengers protected your father." The Super-Skrull looked at Billy and nearly smiled. "Ironic, is it not? That Mar-vell and the Scarlet Witch were my prisoners during the first Kree-Skrull war on Earth, and now I owe my life to their sons."
Billy looked back and forth between the Super-Skrull and Teddy in confusion. "Uh, I'm not the Scarlet Witch's son."
"Of course you are. You and your twin? The mage and the speedster?"
Billy shook his head. "No, the Scarlet Witch never had any children."
"Are you certain?" the Super-Skrull asked. "According to Skrull intelligence, she had twin boys, Thomas and William."
Billy stared at the Super-Skrull, stared at Teddy, and then looked toward the cockpit. "Vision! I need you!"
The Vision, thankfully, had no issue with accessing long forgotten memory files, especially after Billy explained what he needed. "According to the former Vision's memory files, the Scarlet Witch was so desperate to have children that she unconsciously used her reality-altering powers to create twin boys, Thomas and William, out of two lost souls. Unfortunately, the souls were later claimed by Mephisto, Lord of the Netherworld as his own, but when Mephisto reabsorbed the twins' souls, they had been so transfigured by Wanda's magic that they destroyed the demon, and dispersed."
Billy looked over at Tommy, and then down at himself. Could he really have done that? Could either of them?
"Thomas and William ceased to exist, as did the Scarlet Witch's memory of them," Vision continued, "until recently when, grief-stricken, the Scarlet Witch lost control of her powers, inadvertently killing Ant-Man, Hawkeye, and the former Vision."
"But Tommy and I didn't cease to exist," Billy said in wonder.
Tommy, however, looked less than enthused. "Oh no. I can see where you're going with this, but--"
"But it's obvious," Billy said. "We're the Scarlet Witch's twins. We have to be, come on! Maybe when Mephisto was destroyed, our souls were set free. Mine ended up with the Kaplans in New York, and yours ended up--"
"In New Jersey? Gee, thanks," Tommy said. "There's no way that's possible."
"It's at least slightly possible. Everything fits!" Billy said excitedly. "We look exactly alike! I have the Scarlet Witch's powers. You have her brother Quicksilver's powers. Our names are Tommy and Billy! How else do you explain it? Maybe we really are the children of the Scarlet Witch and… whoever the father was."
"According to the Vision's memory files, it was meeeee..." the Vision said, his voice shorting out as the ship rocked with the force of being hit.
"What was that?" Eli asked, peering out one of the ship's windows.
"A Skrull warship. They must have received my transmissions," the Super-Skrull said.
"Then why are they firing on us?" Kate asked.
"Our ship," the Super-Skrull explained, heading for the airlock. "They think we are Kree."
Teddy frowned, and followed the Super-Skrull as he opened the bay door. "Wait, what are you doing?"
"If I do not reveal myself, they will destroy us," the Super-Skrull said.
"You can't fly. You're wounded," Teddy said, getting that look on his face that Billy was starting to classify as Teddy's 'I'm about to do something stupid' gaze.
"You can't go out there," Billy tried to argue. "You're the reason they're here."
"I know. Maybe if they see me, they'll stop trying to kill us," Teddy said, diving out the open door, his wings unfurling.
"Why do I bother? He never listens," Billy said. He leaped out after Teddy, zooming to catch up with him. "What are you doing? It's like you want them to capture you!"
Teddy gave Billy a worried look as they ducked below a shot from the Skrull warship. "They're my people--"
"They're not your people. They're not even people," Billy started, but he was cut off by something whizzing past them, taking out the Skrull ship with a resounding boom. "What was that?" He looked towards the stolen Kree ship, to see if someone had figured out how to fire (either Kate or Tommy were the most likely candidates)... and found another Kree ship instead.
"They just murdered all those Skrulls!" Teddy yelled, distraught.
"I don't know, they look pretty alive to me," Billy said, pointing towards the Skrulls flying out of the flaming ship looking no worse for the wear.
"We've got to stop them from killing each other."
"They're not going to listen, which I now realize is a trait that's genetic on both sides," Billy said.
Teddy ignored the slight against his supposed people, too busy plotting. "We can't know that until we try," he said, flying out to place himself directly between the two groups. "Hold your fire!" he yelled. "I am the son of the Kree Captain Mar-vell and the Skrull Princess Anelle, and I urge you to cease fire so we can settle this without bloodshed."
Billy flew close to Teddy, wincing as he prepared for them both to get blasted, but nothing came at them. In fact, the firing on both sides stopped, just as Teddy had requested.
"Wow. It worked. I can't believe it," Teddy said. "Uh, I mean, see? I knew reaching out was a good plan."
Billy smiled at Teddy, but his expression faded as he looked over Teddy's shoulder. "Um, I hate to break it to you, but I don't think reaching out did the trick," he said, pointing as the Avengers who had gathered in the air flew in front of them like a shield.
"It's all right kids," Iron Man said, "we'll take it from here."
[Adapted from Young Avengers #10 and #11. Warning for violence, and for way more telling than showing.]
It had been a lot more surprising when the people who successfully got the Super-Skrull off their backs via a well-placed blaster shot turned out to be the Kree, and it had been even more surprising when they'd also claimed Teddy as their own. There was a Romeo and Juliet joke just waiting to be made once the threat of a second Kree-Skrull war on Earth was over, but it didn't seem like that was going to happen any time soon.
It had been very surprising when the Super-Skrull turned out to not be dead, and jumped in front of Teddy to protect him from the blast of a Kree warrior's gun, and it had been very surprising when Teddy insisted on taking the Super-Skrull with them as they tried to escape, because he'd saved Teddy's life or some similar nonsense that Billy didn't understand but didn't have time to argue about, because the Vision was ushering them onto one of the Kree warships, explaining that he could fly it once he accessed the mainframe, while Tommy argued with Cassie that it didn't really count as stealing if they weren't intending to keep the ship.
At this rate, Billy was going to be grounded for at least two lifetimes.
Sure enough, it only took the Vision a few moments to learn how to operate the ship, and Billy could hear him and the others arguing in the cockpit about where to go from here - whether to go to Avengers Tower, or to just get as far away from everything as possible - but he couldn't offer his own two cents, because Teddy was keeping him a little busy.
"I want him to heal, I want him to heal, I want him to heal," he said, holding his hand over the scorch mark on the Super-Skrull's chest.
Teddy looked at the Super-Skrull with growing concern. "The spell isn't working."
"Probably because I don't want it to work," Billy muttered. The idea that his magic could work to heal the Super-Skrull, but not the woman he'd killed seemed utterly unfair, and Billy was pretty sure his reluctance was preventing anything good from happening.
The Super-Skrull shifted where he was sitting, and sighed. "Do not trouble yourselves. My body will regenerate in time."
"It's a shame Teddy's mother can't say the same," Billy said bitterly.
Teddy shot him a dirty look. "Billy!"
"The mage is right," the Super-Skrull said, looking surprisingly sad. "I did not intend to kill your surrogate. I have murdered my kinswoman and failed in my mission."
"Your mission to kidnap me?" Teddy asked.
"No, in my mission to save you, as your father tried to save me," the Super-Skrull explained. "The Kree were not lying to you. You father was Captain Mar-vell, and your mother, had she survived, would have been Empress. My mission was to make you our emperor, but the Kree will never allow this. If they cannot have you, cannot control you, they will kill you."
"And the Skrulls won't do the same?" Billy asked. "It's not that I don't think we can trust you but, you know, there's a whole lot of history to back me up."
"No harm will come to the child while I am around," the Super-Skrull said, "and not while you have the Young Avengers protecting you, as the Avengers protected your father." The Super-Skrull looked at Billy and nearly smiled. "Ironic, is it not? That Mar-vell and the Scarlet Witch were my prisoners during the first Kree-Skrull war on Earth, and now I owe my life to their sons."
Billy looked back and forth between the Super-Skrull and Teddy in confusion. "Uh, I'm not the Scarlet Witch's son."
"Of course you are. You and your twin? The mage and the speedster?"
Billy shook his head. "No, the Scarlet Witch never had any children."
"Are you certain?" the Super-Skrull asked. "According to Skrull intelligence, she had twin boys, Thomas and William."
Billy stared at the Super-Skrull, stared at Teddy, and then looked toward the cockpit. "Vision! I need you!"
The Vision, thankfully, had no issue with accessing long forgotten memory files, especially after Billy explained what he needed. "According to the former Vision's memory files, the Scarlet Witch was so desperate to have children that she unconsciously used her reality-altering powers to create twin boys, Thomas and William, out of two lost souls. Unfortunately, the souls were later claimed by Mephisto, Lord of the Netherworld as his own, but when Mephisto reabsorbed the twins' souls, they had been so transfigured by Wanda's magic that they destroyed the demon, and dispersed."
Billy looked over at Tommy, and then down at himself. Could he really have done that? Could either of them?
"Thomas and William ceased to exist, as did the Scarlet Witch's memory of them," Vision continued, "until recently when, grief-stricken, the Scarlet Witch lost control of her powers, inadvertently killing Ant-Man, Hawkeye, and the former Vision."
"But Tommy and I didn't cease to exist," Billy said in wonder.
Tommy, however, looked less than enthused. "Oh no. I can see where you're going with this, but--"
"But it's obvious," Billy said. "We're the Scarlet Witch's twins. We have to be, come on! Maybe when Mephisto was destroyed, our souls were set free. Mine ended up with the Kaplans in New York, and yours ended up--"
"In New Jersey? Gee, thanks," Tommy said. "There's no way that's possible."
"It's at least slightly possible. Everything fits!" Billy said excitedly. "We look exactly alike! I have the Scarlet Witch's powers. You have her brother Quicksilver's powers. Our names are Tommy and Billy! How else do you explain it? Maybe we really are the children of the Scarlet Witch and… whoever the father was."
"According to the Vision's memory files, it was meeeee..." the Vision said, his voice shorting out as the ship rocked with the force of being hit.
"What was that?" Eli asked, peering out one of the ship's windows.
"A Skrull warship. They must have received my transmissions," the Super-Skrull said.
"Then why are they firing on us?" Kate asked.
"Our ship," the Super-Skrull explained, heading for the airlock. "They think we are Kree."
Teddy frowned, and followed the Super-Skrull as he opened the bay door. "Wait, what are you doing?"
"If I do not reveal myself, they will destroy us," the Super-Skrull said.
"You can't fly. You're wounded," Teddy said, getting that look on his face that Billy was starting to classify as Teddy's 'I'm about to do something stupid' gaze.
"You can't go out there," Billy tried to argue. "You're the reason they're here."
"I know. Maybe if they see me, they'll stop trying to kill us," Teddy said, diving out the open door, his wings unfurling.
"Why do I bother? He never listens," Billy said. He leaped out after Teddy, zooming to catch up with him. "What are you doing? It's like you want them to capture you!"
Teddy gave Billy a worried look as they ducked below a shot from the Skrull warship. "They're my people--"
"They're not your people. They're not even people," Billy started, but he was cut off by something whizzing past them, taking out the Skrull ship with a resounding boom. "What was that?" He looked towards the stolen Kree ship, to see if someone had figured out how to fire (either Kate or Tommy were the most likely candidates)... and found another Kree ship instead.
"They just murdered all those Skrulls!" Teddy yelled, distraught.
"I don't know, they look pretty alive to me," Billy said, pointing towards the Skrulls flying out of the flaming ship looking no worse for the wear.
"We've got to stop them from killing each other."
"They're not going to listen, which I now realize is a trait that's genetic on both sides," Billy said.
Teddy ignored the slight against his supposed people, too busy plotting. "We can't know that until we try," he said, flying out to place himself directly between the two groups. "Hold your fire!" he yelled. "I am the son of the Kree Captain Mar-vell and the Skrull Princess Anelle, and I urge you to cease fire so we can settle this without bloodshed."
Billy flew close to Teddy, wincing as he prepared for them both to get blasted, but nothing came at them. In fact, the firing on both sides stopped, just as Teddy had requested.
"Wow. It worked. I can't believe it," Teddy said. "Uh, I mean, see? I knew reaching out was a good plan."
Billy smiled at Teddy, but his expression faded as he looked over Teddy's shoulder. "Um, I hate to break it to you, but I don't think reaching out did the trick," he said, pointing as the Avengers who had gathered in the air flew in front of them like a shield.
"It's all right kids," Iron Man said, "we'll take it from here."
[Adapted from Young Avengers #10 and #11. Warning for violence, and for way more telling than showing.]