Chapter 246 - 1-3

Chapter 1: Recaps and Returns

Dial: Call Resumed

EVERYTHING past "The Infinity Saga" info is completely off the rails and cannot be taken as a reliable Canon for Dial. And even post-Phase 2 stuff might be changed.

Chapter 1

Laura/Blood Diamond

Laura dreamed. It had been a long time since she'd done that. She dreamed of the past. Of what once was.

Her home was a soft yellow, painted over brick. Her grandfather had smoked cigars. She liked the smell, hanging about softly in the air, mixing with the smell of homemade tortilla. She dreamed of it. Then of those smells, marred by the copper scent of blood.

She dreamed of Mama dying. Of men with guns and machetes slicing into a face that had kissed her forehead and smiled so softly. She dreamed of killing those men with tattoos and guns. Feeling skin rip between her fingers, bones crunch as she snapped them, the harsh feel of wrapped hilts under her fingers as she stole their machetes and used them.

Laura had never fought until then. She could still taste the blood. Smell the urine and bile as she killed the men who killed her mother.

Then when it was over, she cried. She cried forever, standing over Mama.

That was how the men in black suits found her. They took her from Mama. They put her to sleep. When she woke up again, she was in a cage.

Every year since then, she was there. They cut her open. They tested her. Shot her. Forced her to kill more. She learned to fight quickly. No one taught her. But she had to learn if only to end it sooner before they knocked her out again. She didn't question why it happened anymore.

Laura knew why.

She was in hell. She'd been a bad girl. And God had sent her to hell. That was why she didn't have her Mama anymore. Mama had been good. She went to heaven. Laura wasn't allowed to go with her.

They took her apart, put her back together, and kept doing it over and over. No more hugs. No more real food when they could just feed her with a tube. Just hell.

Then, something changed. January 12th, 2014.

She remembered the men screaming as they began to fight. The cage was moved. But as they moved her, she listened. Listened to them talk about Hydra, and SHIELD.

And the Avengers. She'd hear a lot about them.

Laura was in hell. But she'd never heard about demons being so afraid.

They went to a castle. And she kept on listening.

The bad men had been scared. Except two. Strucker and Sterns. They spoke to her, sometimes. Told her about things. She didn't talk unless they told her too. Her voice was still raw. It had been years since she spoke.

She didn't have a lot of context. Some of what they said sounded like fairy tales. Gods, aliens, men with powerful bodies and suits, women who could disappear and reappear.

She learned that SHIELD had found out that Hydra was hiding within them, and had begun fighting against them. As a scientist inserted a needle into her, he complained that they had become BRIDGE. Another one said the Avengers were chasing them.

Sterns showed her some blue-green crystals. "Beautiful, aren't they?" the green-skinned man with a massive head said, smiling at her. "A gift from Dial. They'll be yours now. Be sure to thank me, will you?"

Dial. The Hydra people called him an alien. She saw a video once. A dark-skinned man with a short beard and hair, fighting on the news one time, talking with Captain America another. He sometimes changed into monsters. Giant wolves, flying dinosaurs, small demons that cackled.

And sometimes, he changed into pretty crystals.

Hydra did something to her. She could feel it, when one day they forced her to watch TV for days. The colors were so pretty. And then she didn't want to fight them anymore.

The next day, the crystals were inside her. She felt them all through her. They were heavy, and if she wasn't careful, they were sharp. She got used to it. To the feeling of something inside her slicing through her, to feeling her own skeleton and knowing she could control it.

From then on, she was almost always close to Strucker. She saw everything he did. And he had seen a lot.

She saw Hydra kidnap a pretty woman and turn her into a pretty green giant. She was forced to go with them when they ran away from the Avengers and BRIDGE, seeing a storm in the distance as they ran from a god.

Strucker had ignored her as she watched the news with him later. March 15th, 2014, the news said. Rio De Janeiro had been struck by an earthquake. Then, more news came in. Monsters from all across time. Dinosaurs. Demons. Knights in shining armor.

The Avengers and BRIDGE went in. Footage played of them fighting in the streets. Saving people. Dial smashing through groups of enemies. Captain America leading men and women into battle. Black Widow carrying a girl in her right arm as she fired a submachine gun into the head of a massive lion. Laura found something warm as she watched them.

An armored man with a white skull painted on his chest pressed a shotgun into a creature out of nightmares. Just before he took its head off, Laura took pleasure in the fear on the demon's face.

And then Laura saw her. The green woman. Giant and strong, fighting alongside the others. She looked happy.

Laura hated her. Hated her happiness. Hated that she had been captured for barely anytime, but the Avengers had saved her. Made her one of them.

Under the sea of fog that Hydra had made of her thoughts, Laura felt that hatred. She clung to it. In that sea of fog… hatred of that green woman was the only thing that was hers.

March 12, 2014, Laura went on a mission with two others. Former SHIELD agents, taken in and brainwashed. Agent Trip and Agent Sharon Carter. They were fascinating. Efficient, and very skilled. But beyond that, they were also somehow… alive. In a way that she didn't feel. That most of the others didn't. Trip gave her a protein bar on the way to the mission. Sharon told her to sleep.

They were worried about her.

It made sense. What was the point of hell, if only one person could go.

That comforted her. That after years of demons, she had found people like her. They went into a Chinese facility together, killed everyone within, and stole a computer chip. On the way out, Trip reminded her to clean some blood that landed on her. It was a nice thing to do.

After they gave Strucker the chip, he woke up a robot with a green face in its chest. And then they watched the news.

Dial and Creel had gone to Russia. Creel, as Strucker had helpfully told her, was the first person to survive the same machine that made her. She found that interesting. That they were similar like that.

And then, Russia apparently became something insane. She didn't get to find out all of it, but she heard about parts of it. Monkey robots, other heroes, someone named 'Kragoff' that was described as a James Bond villain.

Her training was adjusted to account for the Winter Guard. Kraven, a hunter, and Vanguard, a Captain America copycat were ignored. Chernobog, the dark god, she was told to run away from while an army of Hydra-Hulks attacked him. Crimson Dynamo, she was to slice through the armor and pull out the pilot for capture. Fantasma was also someone she had to be wary of, since Hydra's knowledge of 'magic' was limited. And Ursa Major was hers to fight, with a focus on slicing apart real bears that Hydra sent towards her.

She liked fighting the bears. They were fluffy. Sometimes she could lie against them after she killed them, enjoy the warmth before she was forced to kill more.

All the while, all across the world, more superhumans appeared to follow the Winter Guard. A team in Japan called Big Hero 6, China had the Ascendants, Canada revealed Alpha Flight. Strucker kept an eye on all of them, even the pretty Korean girls.

The first time in years that Laura heard music was from those girls. The sound of it. So powerful. Beautiful, but also like it was challenging everyone. She listened to it with avid interest whenever Strucker would play the videos. He used the videos to try and prepare for a day he might have to fight them.

Laura listened because they made her feel like she could fight the entire world.

March 20th, 2014. They heard very little from BRIDGE. She-Hulk had had a very public fight with a redheaded woman, the battle becoming a legend among wrestling fans apparently. There were rumors about BRIDGE hiring paleontologists, biologists, experts in Antarctica, and outdoorsmen for a special project, something Strucker had been confused about.

The only thing Laura focused on was a question Strucker asked while they visited Zola with Josef, a strange man Strucker said was one of the 'Winter Soldiers'.

"Blood Diamond. What will you do if you ever meet Dial?"

"Kill him," Laura said blankly.

"Do you consider him a father, for donating the crystals in your body?"

She'd shaken her head. She didn't. But she did feel strange when it came to him. The diamonds in her always seemed to weigh just a bit more when she thought of that odd man. Even as she killed an alien man later, she thought about the human who could turn into aliens.

The feeling continued four days later, when she caught footage of him and Captain America on a tv show. At one point, he smiled at the camera. She thought about that. That happened a lot.

Under the fog of soothing voices telling her to comply, she watched. Watched Strucker hire a red-haired man that made the base into a shifting moving fortress. Watched Zola create a strange gelatinous creature. Watched Strucker turn the aliens into his own personal army.

And then, one day, Strucker sent her on a mission. To kill Tony Stark. She was given a dress and a quinjet.

She went. She was happy to comply.

It all went wrong when she arrived. The small girl. The Blonde one. Strucker had called her Ruby Hale, a candidate for the Destroyer of Worlds project. The girl was with Tony Stark and pegged her immediately. She attacked. Iron Man and Ruby fought back.

At one point, Iron Man shot her with a blast of sonics. She felt her bones shatter in her own head, slicing through her eyes. She felt her cheekbones break and cut into her. It was the worst pain she had ever felt.

It happened again and again. And she kept on trying to kill him. She was happy to comply.

And then… Tony got new armor. He stared at her.

"Sorry about this kid. But this is over."

And something in her… for just a moment. Just one. The thought filled her.

If I die. Maybe I'll see Mama again.

"...kill me."

She'd been so desperate for it. The thought consumed her. It broke through the fog.

Then the moment was gone. She complied. And she attacked again.

Then, when she had no way of succeeding in her objective, she ran. Strucker had ordered her too.

But she sliced out the stomach of Ruby Hale. She never knew if the girl died.

When she got back to base, Strucker punished her. He'd cut her open down to the bone diamond bone, burned the flesh there, then timed how long it would take for her to heal. Then again. And again. For hours.

"After all," he'd said. "I don't know if I'll be able to do this again."

And then. The next day. War. June 5th, 2014.

BRIDGE came down, on three great ships, with an army pouring out of the doors. She watched as they fought Hydra forces, and knew that this was hell. Where else but hell could have such a battle, such horrors? Giant monsters, inhuman speedsters, demons from the sky, alien warships.

Blood was a common factor in Laura's life. But that day, she saw more than she thought possible.

The aliens came down. They killed hundreds. For a moment. Just a moment. It looked like Hydra would win.

Then Godzilla exploded from out of one of the ships.

Silence filled the room around her. Laura stared in awe at the sight. A crystal monster, the size of a mountain. Roaring.

"...Holy shit," Strucker chuckled, surprising Laura. He looked to his right. Laura looked back at him, her brainwashing keeping her from showing the shock she felt. "It seems your 'father' still has many surprises."

He never saw Laura look back at the screen. She stared at it as the ground continued to shake. The echoing voice of a monster reverberated through her body, her blood… right into her crystal bones.

From there, Dial infiltrated the base along with a few others. And Strucker told her to go get him.

And for the very first time, in the shifting rooms that the strange laughing red-haired man had made. Laura met Dial.

He was standing there. Long black hair. Brown eyes. He was shorter than Strucker by about an inch, but was built like Josef, with the same powerful muscles and stance, wearing an armored shirt with a hood, jeans, and the famous Omnitrix on his arm.

His face when he saw her… it was shocked. But he looked… warm. Like Trip and Sharon sometimes did. But there was more there.

"Laura…"

For a moment, Laura stared at him. He stared back. She felt so lost-

A voice that sounded like Strucker roared. "Comply!"

Twin blades left her knuckles. His eyes hardened. He reached for the Omnitrix. The dial pressed down. She moved, lunging at him. Green light shone across his body, transforming him before reaching golden eyes. Eyes that matched her own now.

A fist punched her. But she barely felt it.

He was in Diamondhead form. And she could feel him.

She'd felt it with the giant crystal monster. But this was more. More intimate, warmer. A sensation like she was connected to him. Not just in her crystals. For a moment, it was like every part of Laura was calling out for him.

COMPLY.

Then she was trying to kill him.

They fought for a while. And Laura continued to comply. To draw him in. To bring him towards the target.

Until they fell into the trap.

And Strucker sprung it.

Laura felt herself raise a blade to her own throat, the diamond slicing just a bit. She stared at Dial as Strucker spoke.

Stand in the center of sonic weapons in Diamondhead form. Or she would kill herself.

And Laura felt the warmth and hope within her fade. She was going to die. He would let her die. He was a hero. Heroes stopped bad people. Dial would let her die, and then Strucker would die. That was fine-

Dial transformed into Diamondhead. And Laura broke.

Shock and horror filled her, breaking through her conditioning. Then the sound weapons struck.

And Dial began to break too.

"GAAAAAAH!"

He screamed. He cracked to pieces. And then he healed. And broke. His eye shattered. He fell to his knees. Broke. Healed. Over and over.

But he didn't die. He refused to. She watched him scream. Watched portions of him crack. Bleed a strange fluid. When Tony Stark had hit her with sonics, she felt her bones snap apart and shred her own flesh. This… this was so much more. The sounds of his face, chest, and back snapping open, his right eye exploding, crystals growing into the gaps to fill the holes only to vibrate apart and break again.

Then the sound stopped. And Strucker and Dial spoke. Strucker sounded powerful, domineering. Dial should have sounded weak. His voice was soft, filled with pain.

But his voice still echoed.

"What is the point of allowing this level of pain? For a girl you don't know? A woman who tried to kill you. Tried to kill your friend?"

Laura looked at Dial and wondered the same. He should have just changed. Turned into one of those other aliens. Killed Strucker. Laura had hurt so many. Killed more. Why didn't he want to let her die?

"You realize the point of brainwashing is you don't blame the person being forced into it?"

Strucker chuckled. "Yes, I suppose. Still, I believe a reasonable person would have given up when their fingers began to explode."

"Heroes aren't reasonable," Dial growled out. "That's the point of heroes. Always meddling in things that aren't our business. Helping everyone who needs it. We.. I'll take the pain. I'll break. If it'll make sure she doesn't die."

The words shook her.

The increase to the sonic weapons did more than that. They had been loud before, but now she could see the air shake.

Her own body was shaking, breaking, just from standing in the same room as the sonic weapons. She fell to her knees, tears running down her cheeks. But Dial was dying.

"¡Basta!" the word left her lips without thinking. The first time in months she said something without being ordered to.

The light of Dial's eyes began to flicker. His chest fell open, revealing his inner core. And for a moment, just a moment, Laura thought he was dead.

A single arrow stabbed into a speaker to her right. Laura didn't understand at first. But Dial and Strucker seemed to.

Nine more arrows seemed to appear in the other speakers. Then they exploded apart.

Laura barely acknowledged the sudden feeling of relief. Instead, she stared upwards as Hawkeye came down from the ceiling. His arrows flew so fast they seemed to be fired at the same time. They never missed. Not a single shot.

He landed beside Dial. Strucker screamed at her to kill him. And he didn't even flinch. The next thing she knew, electricity was pouring through her, and she couldn't move.

Then she was on the floor. She couldn't stop shaking. Her head hurt. The arrow pumping electricity into her was worse. She stared into Dial's eyes. He smiled around crystal lips shattered to pieces.

"...I'm sorry."

The words echoed even over the sound of Hawkeye taunting Strucker in the background.

"But you'll be okay. We'll get you out. I promise."

She didn't believe him.

She was proven right when, moments later, Strucker was in her mind again.

"Ah… of all the minds in this sea of souls. You are the one I don't need to manipulate."

That hurt worse than anything else. The reminder of her constant violation. Years of horror had broken her even before the mind control. And now, Strucker didn't even need to try.

Then Dial exploded in a wave of green light.

So. Even he'd given up on her.

She barely registered his new appearance, the thin muscular frame, the four arms, the white robes. She only saw Strucker speak.

"Do it."

Laura couldn't stop herself. She reached to remove her own throat.

Then a voice echoed in her mind. A soft and kind mumble.

"Rest kid. I'll see you when it's over."

And then the voice was gone. And so was the haze over her mind. Laura fell asleep. For the first time in a long time, her dreams were peaceful.

June 9th, 2014

She woke up in a room later. There was a plate of food on a table in front of her. She got off the comfortable bed and ate the steak and rice. It was the best food she'd had in years. Ignoring the utensils to shovel it into her mouth, she looked around.

The room she was in was a pale white in color, with a concrete floor, another table with a couch and a sofa next to it. It was big. The biggest room she'd ever woken up in.

She created a diamond blade and tossed it at a wall. It bounced off. Not impale, not even scratch. Just bounced off.

Still a prison then.

The TV was on. She turned to watch it. A news broadcast of the battle was on, with various people talking about what had happened. Something about a psychic battle and a battle in space. But none of that mattered to her.

The important thing was the remote.

She stared at it as she ate. A remote. It was black, and covered in buttons, resting on the table next to her food. She reached out, hands slippery with steak juice, and fumbled. With a press of a button, the channel changed.

Laura stared at the screen. And changed the channel again. And again. Over and over.

Natasha Romanov/Black Widow

In another part of the Triskelion, Natasha watched on a camera with Director Maria Hill as Laura changed channels on the TV with an odd fascination. The young woman seemed to be in shock.

"What is she doing?" Maria asked Nat.

"She's been imprisoned for most of her life, since she was a kid. Told what to do, where to go, who to kill," Natasha looked over at Maria sadly. "Changing the channel? That might be the first time she's ever had a choice in something since Hydra kidnapped her."

Maria looked back at Nat, then sighed sadly. "Fair enough, but she's going to be a problem. Even if Dial broke her out of her brainwashing, she's still someone who was raised in captivity to kill others. She's a timebomb."

"I'm getting a lot of Deja Vu right now," Natasha said sadly.

Maria chuckled, turning and walking towards her desk. Natasha joined her, sitting in front of the desk as Maria leaned against it. "Yeah, I guess you would. What do you suggest?"

"Therapy," Natasha said without hesitation. "Lots of it. Someone needs to speak with her first, get a handle on just how feral she might be. Dial asked to speak with her."

"Because he stupidly feels responsible for her," Maria pointed out.

Natasha didn't respond to that. Maria shook her head. "I'll schedule a time for later. We already called in Professor Garner for her, so that's one more among a fleet of therapists we've called in."

Maria shrugged. "Okay, Laura is in custody at least, but we've got a lot on our plate besides her."

"That's an understatement," Natasha noted. "We're things supposed to be less complicated after we beat Hydra?"

"We're BRIDGE, even back when we were SHIELD our lives were never going to become less complicated. Speaking of which," Maria raised a hand and snapped her fingers in a complicated pattern. A screen appeared before her, revealing two people on different screens. Trip and Sharon. The two were in a cell of their own, similar to Laura's.

Trip was roaming back and forth in his cell. Sharon was lying in bed. And both looked like they had been through hell.

"How are they?" Nat asked carefully.

"Enhanced, for one," Maria's face twisted just a bit. "Apparently Hydra managed to crack the code on a weaker version of the super soldier serum. Nothing like Steve, but the same as Bucky and the other Winter Soldiers. Sharon and Trip were given it."

"Everybody is some kind of enhanced nowadays," Natasha said. "How are they really doing?"

"They'll probably retire at some point, if my guess is right. Peggy Carter asked to see them. Same with Steve, Coulson's team, Mack, Bobby, Izzy-"

"Long list," Nat flashed a smirk.

The Director didn't disagree. "Natasha, I want you to monitor Laura."

That didn't surprise her. "You think she's like me."

"I think she's similar to you, with some severe differences, but at her core she's got a lot in common with you and Ruby."

"Oh, Ruby is going to love that."

Maria barked out a laugh. "She'll have to suck it up. Laura has an easy weakness for us to exploit, but she's also one of the most dangerous people in the world. We need to defuse this tykebomb."

That was a fair statement.

"When did I become the big sister of every dangerous girl in the world," Natasha said more than asked. As the words left her lips, an old memory hit her. A tiny blonde girl, smiling at her as she colored in a notebook.

"...Your request for time-off was approved, by the way."

"You didn't tell anyone else about it?"

"No, but you should."

Natasha and Maria looked at each other for a moment. "...Fine. Well, best of luck when you head out."

"Thank you."

Maria looked over at the screen again and waved a hand.

"You're following Dial."

The Director nodded. "He left in Big Chill form. He's almost to Westchester County already."

Natasha didn't speak, but she could see Maria hiding her own stress.

The world was getting crazier and crazier. There had to be a breaking point.

Mahmoud Schahed/Dial/Back At It

I twirled through the air on wings of blue, chilled air following in my wake, contemplating the past few months.

On July 15, 2018, I had been in my home universe writing fanfiction. Then, Professor Paradox showed up in my room and shoved me into the Marvel Universe. Well, one of them anyways.

I went from my world, to New York City, Fall of 2013, in a place where Tony Stark, Thor, and all the other heroes I loved existed and lived.

At least Professor Paradox didn't leave me entirely in the cold.

He gave me an Omnitrix.

One of the most powerful weapons in multiversal history. Allowing me to turn into aliens to obtain their powers.

Currently I was Big Chill, a frozen insect. I had faster aliens, but few that I could just kind of relax in the air with.

I needed it. I'd been dropped in the middle of November and It was the beginning of June now. And in that time I'd fought in five different wars, various battles, and navigated several dangerous waters across the Earth. I needed a break man.

But there is no rest for the wicked, and thus none for the righteous either. I think someone said that once.

I flew through clear skies, enjoying the air fluttering across my insectoid form, and tried to breath softly. With New York City having disappeared behind me long ago, I was now away from the skyscrapers, had left behind the warehouses, the suburbs, and was full on in the countryside. Hopefully, me flying overhead in broad daylight wouldn't lead to Mothman rumours in the area.

I say hopefully, but I could have avoided sight… Okay fine, I just thought it would be funny if it happened. I waved at a car full of kids as I passed, grinning at the shocked looks on their faces.

I flew through a cloud and appeared out the other side with a small layer of frost. Below, I could see my destination.

1407 Greymalkin Lane Westchester, North Salem, NY, 10560.

The building I was reaching was beautiful, large. A mansion with a large yard in front, a pool in the backyard… And a tennis court. And a baseball diamond. And a basketball court… and I was pretty sure the property was even bigger than that!

"Good lord," I breathed out, reaching out mentally. "You really spring for the full package."

"The benefits of an inheritance and careful investments," a voice echoed in my mind.

I landed by the front door and transformed back into my human self. I walked up to the doors of the giant mansion. As I did, I noticed someone staring at me from one of the windows. I hid a grin when they tried to hide, but didn't stop staring at me. The teens were looking me over. That was just… Wild man. Absolutely wild.

I almost knocked on the doors before they opened up. Behind the door was, to my surprise, someone I did and did not recognize.

Since coming to this world I'd gotten used to many things. One, was that for some reason, every hero I met looked like an actor or actress from my world.

Captain America looked like Chris Evans. Natasha Romanov was Scarlett Johanssen. Hell, Fantasma, one of my best friends, was a dead ringer for a cosplayer named KalinkaFox.

So when I first met Ororo Monroe, I was surprised I didn't think of any actress I knew that looked like her. On the other hand, she was a dead ringer for her X-Men Evolution counterpart.

The same straight pale white hair, blue eyes, and dark skin, all while looking incredibly beautiful. She was wearing a red shirt and a long blue skirt with some interesting flower designs along it. She smiled at me as she held the door open.

"Good Morning, Mr. Schahed. Please, come inside," her voice had a hint of an African accent. Just like I remembered!

"Thank you, Ms. Monroe," I stepped in, grinning at her.

"Please, right this way. The Professor is waiting."

She led me inside. The mansion was beautiful, very old school-looking, with marble and hardwood everywhere. We went up to the staircase in the center of the lobby, Storm just in front of me. I couldn't help a bit of the fanboy coming out.

"Gotta say Ms. Monroe. It's a real honor to meet you."

She gave me an odd look. "Oh? Oh!" she seemed to come to a realization. "Right, the Professor did mention the… multiverse, and that you were familiar with other versions of us."

Her voice's odd timbre drew my eye. She was still very calm, almost zen, but she also seemed uncomfortable. I winced.

"Sorry, I didn't even think about that. The whole knowing about different versions of you and their history. The other Avengers, a lot of the BRIDGE folk, they got used to that pretty quick. Just, keep in mind, I basically just have an impression of-"

Storm stopped me with a laugh. "I understand, Mr. Schahed. I live with a telepath. I do not mind you knowing a bit about me, I am simply trying to comprehend the idea of a multiverse."

Ah, that was fair.

"Well, at least we don't live in the one where the Earth got turned into a sea of orange goo by insane lunatics."

We'd gotten to a door by that point. Ororo looked over at me, surprised. "Really?"

"You want to see the most insane, beautiful, wonderful sights possible, Ms. Monroe? The multiverse is the best way to see it all. I'll let you know when we figure out how to travel through it safely, show you some cool shit."

She seemed amused by that. "I'll keep that in mind. And please, call me Ororo."

"Dial."

That surprised her. "You want people to call you by your codename?"

I shrugged. "Yeah, it's one I've earned."

Somehow she seemed to understand, based on the small smile on her face.

She opened the door, letting me into the room. Within, two men waited.

One was short, but thickly built with muscle, his bare arms fuzzy with hair, hair cut into an interesting pattern like a combination of mullet and ducktail. His skin was darkly tanned the way hunters get, and he had a scowl so deep I was reminded of some of my angrier friends.

Wolverine. I was surprised he didn't look like Hugh Jackman, rather looking a lot like his X-Men Evo counterpart just like Storm.

The other man was in a wheelchair. And he was a dead ringer for Patrick Stewart.

"Thank god," I said as I walked in. "After Logan and Ororo, I was starting to feel like things had gone weird."

The two mentioned looked at each other in confusion. The austere man in the wheelchair, on the other hand, knew what I was talking about.

Charles Xavier grinned. "I'm glad I could reassure you, Mr. Schahed. I believe we have much to discuss.

"A fuckton's worth," I agreed, Ororo wincing at the language as Logan snorted. "So, let's talk shop, because I need you to convince me and my boss that hiding the existence of mutants is in our best interests."

The door closed behind me and I sat down to talk.

Author's Note: Next Chapter will be Tuesday on my Patreon. For now… I'm so damn happy to be writing this again.

I missed Dial.

I'm sorry that the beginning is a recap, but hopefully reading it from Laura's perspective made it interesting. Next chapter will be more about the mutants, Dial meeting the X-Men kids, Brotherhood, and much much more!

Chapter 2: In Living Color

Chapter 2

June 9th, 2014

Charles Xavier, being the gentleman that he was, had set out tea for us. Logan took a beer. Not one of us was surprised.

I was glad for the tea. Tony liked to joke that I was a fanboy, but it was true. I tended to get pretty starstruck when I met my heroes, and the X-Men had been my heroes for a very long time. Ever since the 90's cartoon I watched as a kid.

Having the tea gave me a chance to focus. We had a lot to talk about.

I took a sip of my drink before speaking. "The problem, Mr. Xavier, is that while I understand why you and others are worried about hiding your powers, waiting for society to be 'ready' for the reveal of mutants is a losing battle."

"Is it?" Xavier sipped his own drink. "You've seen how the public currently responds to superhumans. Even those like Captain America, respected individuals among the community, or Tony Stark, someone who only gained 'abilities' through technology, have those who hate and fear them. Despite my efforts, there are those in the world who know about mutants, who exploit them. How much worse do you think it would be if the whole world knew about us? Knew about our potential?"

"You could make the argument that they would do that no matter what. And at this point, you're already pretty deep in the hole," I said. "For one thing, people are going to argue you should have helped fight off all the bullshit that's popped up. Think about it. Maybe back when the Chitauri first showed up you could claim that those mutants with combat ability were too surprised to head in to fight.

"But since then, we have had a dozen different problems. Problems that at the least you could have helped with," I said, indicating all three.

Logan scoffed. "Bub, we have enough problems without taking on the rest of the world's."

"Oh, that's right. Guess the rest of the world will take that into account," I said sarcastically. "Keep in mind, every point I make is from the perspective of that. The WORLD. It's full of dicks, with all the intelligence of it."

Ororo made a small noise that drew our attention. "Dial, I understand where you're coming from. But mutants aren't a united force, we are people all across the world. Even in this school, we only have six students. Students. They have already faced enemies we would have rather they didn't. We couldn't send them into warzones."

"I absolutely agree. I get it. You can't speak for every mutant. But you three could have helped. Even if it wasn't combat, Rio needed as many people to help as it could get."

Charles shook his head sadly. "And I did do what I could."

Huh?

At my confusion, he smirked. "During the course of the efforts, I guided as many of the rescuers to victims as I could. It was difficult, something about the way Rio was hit affected the psychic plane, but I did what I could."

"That's-"

"Not going to matter," Charles finished for me. He leaned back in his seat, frowning. "Yes, I've been worried about that for some time."

"Professor, people were going to fear us no matter what," Logan said dismissively. "Half the kids are walking weapons."

"That is no reason to make it easier," Xavier admonished. "I must admit, Dial, I've been struggling with that question for some time. While I do wish for the children to have normal lives, that is quickly becoming impossible. This world we live in will begin to draw them in. It may be time for us adults to step into the light."

"That's gonna lead to a lot of trouble," Logan pointed out.

"Agreed," Storm sighed. "If we reveal ourselves, enemies who once held back out of a need for secrecy will feel no need to."

"Then you don't have to reveal the full truth, do you?" I frowned. "People might eventually figure out the full x-gene thing. But right now, you can just step out as another powered human if you want. Same as me, Cap, or any of the rest."

Logan scoffed. "I ain't one for the limelight, bub."

God, I wanted to laugh my ass off at that. Wolverine Publicity was hilarious considering how much he would have hated it. Logan continued.

"How about you, Storm? Feeling eager to get turned into a celebrity?"

"I have faced similar prospects before," she said idly. She sighed, looking over at Charles.

The bald psychic looked troubled. "In truth, I had been considering it. If Emma hadn't forced my hand, I likely would have approached BRIDGE some time ago."

"I knew that icy bitch was going to ruin something," Logan growled.

"She nearly wiped my mind out," I grumbled.

"We heard about that. Are you okay?" Ororo asked, her eyes soft.

"I'll live. She won't." Logan smirked at that. Then I sighed, running a hand through my beard. "As for this? Well. I can't exactly force you guys to expose mutants as a whole to the world. But you gotta understand, you were already in a precarious state."

I raised my hand and started counting on my fingers. "Let's list off all the Biomorphic Events, shall we?"

"Bio-what?" Logan asked.

"Catalysts that change a species' baseline abilities," Xavier said.

"We got enhanced. That's Captain America, Deathlok, Vanguard. Gamma mutates, that's Hulk and She-Hulk. People with alien genetics, like Thor, those enhanced by items, like me, then cosmic beings like Ares, magic users, and people changed by magic. Now, there are super-geniuses like Iron Man and Crimson Dynamo, so smart it's basically a power. Technically that doesn't as a biomorphic event, but they still fit into a tier of their own-"

"You got a point here, bub?" Logan asked, annoyed.

I held up my six fingers. "That's the ones people can google search. But then there are the hidden ones," two more fingers.

"One is us. What is the other?"

"Inhumans. People whose ancestors' DNA was modified, so now if they encounter a special substance they end up with a random superpower," I explained. "But then, there are mutants… god, there needs to be a less problematic name for that."

"I'll workshop it in marketing," Logan snarked.

"But yeah. The rest of us need to at least encounter some sort of event, make something, take a chemical, to get our powers. Whereas you guys just need to hit puberty. Hell, in some cases not even that."

Seriously, the number of mutants who'd had their full powers since birth was kind of ridiculous when you thought about it.

"And then we have the randomness of it all," I pointed at Logan. "Super healing, senses, and claws. Powerful, but not galaxy changing," I pointed at Ororo. "A literal hurricane waiting to happen, with weather changing on a level Thor has asked about," Ororo blinked at that, curiosity on her face, while I pointed at Charles. "Come on Prof, do I even need to explain why you're ridiculous?"

"I shall take that as a compliment," he said with some real humility. "Still, I must agree with you, Mr. Schahed. For one thing, had I approached BRIDGE some time ago, I may have been within your vicinity sooner, and been able to sense your mental block."

"You ever find out who made it?" Logan asked us.

Charles and I shared a look. After all, Emma may have taken advantage of it, but someone had placed it there… most probable suspect was Professor Paradox. Likely the block made sure I didn't bring in the X-Men before it would have been perfect for the timeline.

But we kept that to ourselves. Bringing him up wouldn't be useful. He'd do things for the benefit of the timeline, but he'd only step in if needed. For now, just us doing our own thing was fine.

"It doesn't matter," Charles said at last. "We'll continue to maintain the blocks we placed on far more antagonistic sorts however."

Logan and I had the same uncomfortable looks on our faces. I'd guessed he had a similar history to his alternates, a history of mindwipes and mental blocks. After my stint, I was just as disturbed.

But there were some people who would end up killing thousands if they regained their memories of mutants. Until BRIDGE was ready, we'd have to let Charles keep them in the dark.

"Then I suppose we have a plan," Ororo brought us back on topic. "I suppose this will keep Evan from asking me if I'm going to become an Avenger," she added with a chuckle.

I grinned. But that did bring up something.

"...Speaking of the kids," I leaned back in my seat.

"Don't even think about asking them to fight," Logan snarled.

"Calm down, Papa Logan," my quip made Ororo hide a smile as Logan growled. "I don't want teenagers fighting terrorists. I'm not Dumbledore. But Charles, I gotta say, for a guy who wants peace between 'mutants' and humans, you have a tendency to make this school pretty insular."

Logan and Ororo looked over at him. Charles pressed his hands together, a thoughtful look on his face. "Yes. I suppose I do," the words were said with a sort of, confused and mystified tone. "My plan was always to integrate mutants into society. To train them, yes, keep them safe from those who would bring them harm. But I never planned on making my school mutant-only."

And yet, it always was. In terms of comic writing, that was likely because actually having teenage heroes that weren't mutants, like the Young Avengers and Runaways, added to the school would have ended in some confusion.

Didn't make sense for Xavier's goals though. And both Charles and I knew that looking at the multiverse from a fictional perspective just didn't work. These were real places, with real people. And that meant that these dozens of Xaviers had somehow decided to make the same decision every time.

Fight for peace, but also keep mutants separate from humans.

Of course, Logan brought up a good point. "Not like we could have taken any human students in. Too much of a chance the brats would tell people about it."

"We're simply thinking about the future, Logan," Ororo said kindly. "One day, our students might be able to be open with their powers."

"Possibly with other powered people," I pointed out. "There aren't too many kids right now with powers, but a large batch of the Graveyard Survivors were teens. BRIDGE is doing their best with them, but they might benefit from a more school-like setting."

"Graveyard Survivors?" Ororo asked.

I winced. "Well… a while back, there was this Hydra Facility. A dumping ground, really. We found it full of Hydra's failed experiments. When they tested out making superhumans of their own. And when those tests didn't end in the results they wanted, well… Some of them were found in a state of near death. Most were in some kind of… heavily altered state. Charles, could you share my memory of that?"

Charles lowered his gaze. I felt his presence in my mind. Then Logan and Ororo's expressions changed. Ororo looked sickened. Logan was pissed, his overly sharp canines flashing.

"Luckily, the Omnitrix helped out most of them. But those who ended up with powers are still learning. Some of them, the quick learners, are now a part of STRIKE. Others have new identities or went back to their families. Still, we do have kids, like I said. Some with new super-soldier powers, some similar to my friend Creel, others with new gamma mutations.

"I'm not going to force you to accept them, but if you really want to make a school to teach kids, or even adults, with powers? A place where they'll be safe? Well. I can help with that."

"Intriguing," Xavier leaned back in his chair thoughtfully. "Yes, I can see that. We'll need more teachers as time passes of course. Right now, our children go to Bayville High for their general schooling, but if we become public that may need to change."

"Like I said, that's something the Avengers will help with."

"Not BRIDGE, right?" Logan said.

"Logan," Ororo admonished gently.

"Hey, I don't want the government sticking their noses in if we can help it," he snarled.

Fair enough. "Just the Avengers. Privately. Maria Hill will be keeping an eye on things of course, but any help we give is going to be on our own. Tony Stark is actually interested in building the defenses of this place further, and a friend of mine, X, is hoping you'll accept his application to teach here."

"I likely will, depending on his credentials," Charles then blinked when I sent him those credentials mentally. "Oh… well that is quite unique."

Ororo pressed a hand to her cheek. "Sadly, this won't all be solved in a single conversation. If Logan and I do go public as members of the Avengers, we'll have a lot to deal with. And then of course, there are the children."

"Yeah, we'd like to avoid the kids being forced to fight. But you know-"

Logan interrupted me. "Shit happens."

Ain't that the truth.

"And what about you?" Charles asked me.

"Me?"

"Yes. We've spoken about your compatriots. But would you like to teach at our school as well? During your off-hours?"

That threw me for a loop. "Uh, I don't think I'm really qualified for that."

"I disagree," Charles smiled. "In fact, you are more qualified than most. You have a unique insight into my students."

"Because of-?"

He stopped me with a raised hand. "No. Not because of your multiversal knowledge. Rather, because of your familiarity with having powers of your own. As well as the drawbacks of those powers."

Oh. That was a reasonable thought.

"While you may be a boon to us as a sparring partner, I would value you far more for the aid you can give those students who may be dealing with troublesome abilities," I immediately thought of two. "At the least, consider a trail run."

…Well, my mom and dad did want me to be a teacher when I was younger.

Before I could think further, I heard something at the door. So did the others. We all looked over at it. For a moment, a long one, I thought about changing forms. This was the Xavier Mansion. One of the top three most attacked locations in Marvel. But logic made me realize who it probably was.

Charles smiled. "Students."

The noise stopped.

"Come on in, brats," Logan said, though he sounded more fond than annoyed.

The door opened after a long moment. I couldn't help a grin as I watched them walk in. In full costume.

First, a tall young man, so tall I'd have thought him a full adult if it wasn't for his baby face, a flop of brown hair on his head, his eyes hidden under a visor. Scott Summers. Cyclops. He looked super-guilty. It was adorable, like a puppy who got caught eating slippers.

He was followed by a pretty redheaded girl wearing a headband around her head and very green eyes that held a bit of chagrin. Her hair was left loose, and she was wearing a similar costume to Scott, just with a bit of green. Easy enough to point her out as Jean Grey. Though I didn't know if she went by any of her code names like Marvel Girl. Or Phoenix. Doubt the Phoenix Force had arrived yet after all…

As I was contemplating that mess, another girl stepped in. Even younger than Jean and Scott, just a bit older than Shuri and Ruby really, with brown hair set into a high ponytail with a set of pink beads to hold it up. Kitty Pryde, aka Shadowcat, looking cute as a button, with a blue scheme to her costume.

The next kid was younger still. He looked sort of like Ororo, with the same cheekbones. His hair was blonde as well, though yellow rather than white, and he had cocky energy to him, reminding me of Pietro. Evan Daniels, Spyke, the nephew of Storm.

Finally, he entered. Blue fur across his body, with hair that had a hint of blue tint as well. He had a tail, three fingers, and two toes. He also looked nervous as hell, though he grinned back at me when I met his gold eyes. Kurt Wagner, known as Nightcrawler, looked the least guilty, which made me think this whole thing was his idea.

"Looks like you all are dressed to party," I noted.

"Against our orders," Ororo said sternly. "We told you this meeting was to be in private for now."

Scott winced. "Sorry Professors. We just… got curious."

"Yeah, for good reason!" Evan popped in. "Auntie, you're going to be an Avenger?"

"Well, reserve at least," I said. "She still gets her own action figures, but she doesn't need to join us full time."

"Action figures?" Storm asked.

"With kung fu action if you want."

"That is so cool!" Kurt chimed in with a thick German accent, the blue-furred kid said, popping into the room with a familiar 'BAMF' sound, stopping just in front of me. "Dial, right? I'm such a huge fan!"

"He has your poster in his room," Kitty added, sounding like a Valley Girl, grinning as she walked in.

"Kitty!"

"Seriously?" I asked, just a bit surprised. "Guess we should trade autographs, huh?"

All this time and I was still thrown that I was actually famous. Not because I was humble or anything, just that I wasn't used to it.

"Trade? That would be amazing!" Kurt said excitedly.

"Children, please," Charles said. "Let's be more polite to our guest, shall we?"

"Yes, Professor," Kurt looked chagrined. "Just… not every day we get an Avenger in here."

"It'll happen more often," I said, leaning over.

"Does that mean we'll be teaming up sometimes?" Scott asked, a bit of the kid in him coming out. "We heard some of what you guys were talking about."

The kids all started talking at once. Except Jean, who was looking a bit weirdly at me. I pushed aside whatever that could mean to focus on the kids.

"Well, like I told your teachers. I'd prefer not to get you guys involved in missions if I could help it. You have powers, and you should learn to defend yourselves. But having you along on say, a mission to take down weapons manufacturers in India is not something we're ready for. More likely some of us will help with training if Professor X asks. That said, if you guys do need help with some bigger threat," at that point, Charles whispered to me mentally that the kids didn't know that Magneto or Juggernaut were a thing yet. "We're more than happy to jump in."

"So we're going to get training from Avengers?" Evan asked excitedly. "That's awesome!"

"What, Wolverine and Storm aren't cool enough for you?" I asked.

"Awwww, Logan and Auntie are cool, but they aren't famous, you know?"

Ah, Evan, if only you knew.

"About that," Logan said, drawing attention. "What are you brats doing in your uniforms?"

"..." They all shuffled in place.

"We kind of thought he was here asking for help on a mission?" Scott said nervously.

Logan took a deep breath, then rubbed at his eyes with the deliberate movements teachers the world over did so often. "So you put on your uniforms?"

"That's kind of adorable," I said with a grin, getting an offended look from the kids. Kids. What sort of world was I in where the X-Men were kids to me? Yeesh.

"Well, I'm sad to say I'm not going on a mission right now," I leaned forward. "That said, boys and girls, we'll probably do a few of those. And I do come bearing gifts."

I reached into my pockets and began taking out cards, handing them out.

"Business cards?" Jean asked, speaking for the first time. She took one from me, then jumped when the white card lit up. A gold X flashed into being. "Whoa."

"That card is something the Avengers had been using for a while. It's a communications unit capable of working just about anywhere. It'll also let you into the Avengers Tower."

"We get to visit the tower!?" Kurt said happily, his German accent getting stronger. "Dude, that's awesome!"

"Calm down, Elf, I doubt he's just doing this out of the goodness of his heart," Logan looked at his card suspiciously. "I bet these are trackers too."

"Well yeah, duh," I said instantly. When the students stared at me in betrayal I shook my head. "Guys, you know how often heroes get lost mid-adventure? I once got lost in the middle of a jungle full of dinosaurs, enslaved, forced into gladiatorial combat against dino-human hybrids, and rode through a prehistoric city on a dragon's back to escape. All because my friends couldn't find me and my Omnitrix broke."

"Like, are you joking right now?" Kitty asked, surprised.

"Not in the slightest," I nodded at the cards. "In the case of an emergency, the cards can let others track your location. We still don't have anything in case of dimensional travel off of Earth, but it'll send out as best a signal as it can in case you're just on a different plane."

"That would have been useful a while back," Kurt said half-jokingly. "Can we call each other?"

"Yes, text, access the internet, all the things a smartphone can do. But I don't recommend using it outside the mansion."

"Oh yeah, new favorite toy!" Kitty said happily.

"Yo, this has a camera!" Evan cheered.

The adults in the room shared a look. I decided to let them enjoy it for now, but continued. "The real important thing is that it means the Avengers can come in if you need extra help. If something comes up and you guys might need extra muscle? We're in."

"That might be real useful down the road," Jean said with a smile. "Especially if the Brotherhood decides to attack us again."

Oh yeah. Those idiots.

"Anyways, I don't only come with fancy business cards. Scott, I hear you've got trouble controlling your powers."

Scott winced. A few of the others looked over at him, Jean in particular looking saddened. "Yeah. You could say that."

I rose to my feet, sighing. Honestly. Why was it this poor guy's destiny to have uncontrollable eye beams?

"I'm not going to beat around the bush. I might have a solution."

"Really!" Jean looked ecstatic. "Scott would love that!"

He looked stunned as well.

"Well, I said might. Tony and I developed this," I reached into a pocket and brought out a big watch, about the size of the OG Omnitrix. "Well, we had some help of course. But basically, it needs to be calibrated. So… who wants to show me to the Danger Room?"

The looks of confusion I got didn't stop me from feeling a bit giddy. Danger Room. That was gonna rule.

In the Danger Room, Scott and I stood alone. The others were up in a control room above looking down at us.

Really though man, the Danger Room. A big old semi-spherical room, empty right now. Still, if it was anything like the X-Men media, this place might suddenly turn into a big old obstacle course. When I'd told Tony about it, he'd spent some time wondering where the hell the tech for that came from, before getting to work on redesigning one for our own use.

Right now though, it was just Scott and I in an empty room. He was adjusting the oversized watch on his wrist nervously. "Are you sure about this, Mr. Schahed? I don't want to hurt you."

"Believe me, if you could hurt me like this, I'd have died a while back," I tapped the Omnitrix, shifting quickly into a new form.

"Feedback!"

In the control room, I heard a loud shout of glee. Heh. As a fanboy myself, I approved.

"Man, that is weird looking. Uh, no offense," Scott said as he looked over my alien form.

I lifted a hand tipped with gold and gave him a massive Feedback grin. "None taken. I like to think looking kinda weird is a fine trade-off for sweet powers. Now. Are you ready?"

"As I'll ever be," Scott still looked nervous. "Mr. Schah-"

"Dial. Call me Dial."

"...Dial. Will this really work?"

"If it doesn't, then it will still be good for us," I pointed at the watch. "That power stabilizer is meant to read data, first and foremost. It will scan you as you fire your laser, and use the data from that to shut down your powers. It should even be able to adjust as you grow older."

"And it's not permanent, right?" Scott asked.

"Not a chance. Never know when you might need to keep an eye on the situation," I punned.

"Ugh, really?" Scott groaned.

"Couldn't help it. Now. Hit me with it."

Scott stared at me through his gold visor. Then he took a breath, raising a hand to his visor. I crossed my arms and extended my top tendrils outwards..

Okay. Party time.

The visor opened up. And the sun burst forth. A beam of red as large around as a dinner plate, crackling with energy.

The red beam swirled into me. Just like that, the battle was on. Well, sort of battle. More of a test.

Cyclops' optic blast hit my plugs and was absorbed into them, flowing into my body. My singular eye crinkled at the feel of it. It was weird. A touch of solar radiation, odd photons, something similar to Thor's personal energy. Optic blasts felt like they took the flavor of every form of energy Cyclops' came close to before unleashing it.

Though he wasn't going all out.

"Come on, Scott. Hit me with all you've got!" I shouted over the sound of lasers.

Scott grunted. Then he let just a bit more power unleash. And I sighed.

"Scott, I have absorbed the power of the God of Thunder. I can take in the energy of the Big Bang if I have to. So stop holding back. For the first time in your life, you can unleash all the energy you've got, and no one is going to get hurt. So let go!"

"Nnnnn!" Scott fell to a knee. "Fine! Here you go!"

More power. I raised my hands and absorbed energy into them. "Nah, kid! That watch needs to read your full output! So take off that visor!"

"Dial, are you sure-" Charles whispered in my mind.

"It's fine, Prof X," I grinned while speaking both mentally and outloud. "Scott! Let go! For the first time in your life, just have some FUN."

For a moment it was quiet. Then Scott reached for his visor. And when he took it off, a blast the size of a wall headed towards me. The floor under us cracked. The air screamed.

"RAAAAAAAH!!!" Scott shouted and laughed, and I joined in.

Goddamn, this kid was strong. I thought that Sauron had had a lot of energy. Thor's lightning, Iron Man's repulsors, those were powerhouses. But Scott was on par with all of them as just a kid. He may have had just one power, but it was a damn good one.

And as he unleashed hell, the watch on his wrist finally let out a loud piercing beep noise. I shouted to Scott. "Okay! Close your eyes and tap the watch!"

Scott staggered to his knees. With a shudder, he closed his eyes. Energy equal to nuclear power plants, stopped by a thin pair of eyelids. God, the physics of the kid would be fun to go over later. For right then, he tapped the watch hesitantly. I lowered my arms, noting the immense heat in the air. The cracked concrete under his feet. The look of exhaustion on his face.

The watch beeped quietly. I sighed in relief. Well, that should have worked.

"...Scott. Open your eyes."

He seemed so hesitant. Then, slowly, he peeked the lids open. The red glow glimmered there, but then it slowly faded. As I watched, his eyes fully opened. For a long moment, he stared up at me. I looked into his eyes as well.

The pupils glowed a bright red before they slowly faded away, leaving brown and very normal irises there.

He stared at me.

"Huh, you've got nice eyes, dude."

He began to cry as I smiled down at him.

No more red hues for Scott Summers. Not if I could help it.

I begged off hanging out further. I wanted to let Scott enjoy his new sight. Jean had been crying for him, and the kid seemed to love looking at everything around him with his own eyes. I imagined it was something like a colorblind person seeing color for the first time.

Though with more not blowing away the world around you.

Still, I had more appointments to keep. Scott wasn't the only one who needed help.

I flew over the city in Astrodactyl form, rocketing through the air at high speed. She was walking alone when I found her, taking a path home. Thankfully few had hair more distinctive than hers.

Aiming for the goth girl with a white stripe through her brown hair, I began to drop towards the ground. First her, then a certain batch of idiots.

Chapter 3: Holding

When I tapped the Omnitrix to shift back into human form and dropped down in front of Rogue, she jumped in shock, staring at me. "Whoa! Wha-"

We were in a small park, with benches and pathways, and a small fountain in the distance. More importantly, nobody was around, so her secret was safe in case someone saw a random girl talking to Dial the Avenger. She stared at me as I walked over. "Hi. Rogue right?"

"Who wants to know?" she said, surprising me. I expected her to sound like that, but her accent was stronger than I realized. Very Southern. And adorable.

Rogue wore the same green see-through top over a black tank top, a collar around her neck, and a pair of gloves. Basically covering herself entirely. Her hair was in a tight bob, and dark green lipstick shined just a bit.

Just like the X-Men kids, she was cute as a button. Probably wouldn't have appreciated that opinion though. I kept back a safe distance, and Rogue took a good look at me.

"Yer an Avenger!" She sounded surprised. And scared. She backed away from me, holding a stack of books close. "What do you want?"

"To say hi, partially," I waved just a bit, smiling as non-threateningly as possible. "I'm Dial. And you're Rogue, one of the X-Men's friends."

She scoffed. "They ain't no friends of mine."

"That wasn't what they said," Scott was a big believer in her actually.

Rogue eyed me suspiciously. "Good for them. What do you want? You gonna arrest me?"

"For what, being a teenager?" I asked honestly.

"No, for my powers!" she spat out. I think she was trying for defiant anger. She seemed more scared to me.

"...Rogue. I'm an Avenger. We arrest bad guys. Fight demi-gods, armies, monsters. Not high schoolers," I looked around the park. After a second, I moved over to a bench near us and sat down. "I'm not here to hurt you, Rogue. I know about your issue controlling your powers."

She hesitated at the sight of me sitting, then brushed some hair back from her eyes. "It ain't… really about control."

I motioned for her to sit, feeling like I was dealing with a skittish cat. It was similar. Rogue hadn't had a good time of it. Never knew who to trust. Half of that was likely Mystique. That blue woman lied so much for a living that she couldn't tell the difference between loving someone and gaslighting them.

Rogue finally lowered down next to me. "You know about my power, right?"

"Absorption," I said immediately. "With a touch, you can take on the abilities of anyone you touch. But it takes a toll on the people you touch."

"More like nearly kills them!" she waved a hand in the air and turned to face me. "I can't control it! I don't mean to! But every time I get close to someone now I just end up hurting 'em!"

She turned away from me and stared at her hands. "I just wish I never got these stupid powers…"

"...Rogue. You have incredible powers."

"How can you say that!?" she snapped, spinning around. "The last person I got close to-"

"Is recovering," when I said that, she stopped in shock. I smiled sadly. "Slowly. But Cody is being looked at by some of BRIDGE's top people. They've managed to wake him up. He might be slow to get out of bed. But the fact we knew what to look for meant we could wake him."

Rogue looked as though the sky had opened up. "R-Really?"

"Yes. And Rogue. I don't think your powers are as uncontrollable as it seems, based on the science," I reached for my pocket and took out a large watch. An exact copy of Scott's actually. "I think, with time and practice, you might be able to choose when and how your powers activate. You'll be able to take in powers for longer periods of time, mix and match them… and touch people without them being harmed. But until that time."

I reached out for her hand. She jumped, startled. I stopped. "Don't worry. I'll be careful."

The moment it took for her to finally reach out as well was longer than I expected. But she finally did, placing her gloved hand carefully in mine. I took my other hand and wrapped the watch around her wrist.

"Now, this model is a bit cumbersome," I attached the clasps. "But it's going to work. Made by Iron Man, Jury Rigg, and a bunch of the smartest people I know. Based on the research we did on Cody. And…"

I touched her glove. And removed it in a movement Nat had taught me. Turns out even gloves are easy to steal when you have enough pickpocket skills. She gasped in horror. "No-!"

My palm pressed into hers. And it began.

God. I hadn't expected the pain of it to be so all-encompassing. Still. I'd felt worse. I'd seen literal hell.

"Relax," I told her, watching as the watch beeped loudly. It didn't need much. As I'd told her, we had plenty of data. The watch shone a familiar green. And the pain ended. I sighed in relief. "There. That wasn't so bad."

Rogue's jaw dropped open.

"Well, it was pretty bad," I admitted. "But it's over now. How do you feel?"

"I'm… touching you…"

I chuckled. Then I turned her hand around and took it in a shaking position. "Let's try this again. I'm Dial, of the Avengers."

She stared at our bare hands touching. "How-"

"The watch," I took a hold of her other glove and removed it, folding it together with the other one. "It's meant to negate the powers of the wearers. You can turn it off anytime you wanna take down a moron or two who makes the mistake of 'messing with the Rogue'. And I still think you should train your powers. But for now, you can touch people agai-"

I stopped when a pair of arms wrapped around me. I felt her shake against me as she hugged me. Closing my big mouth, I held the crying girl close, sighing sadly. "Hey, hey. I got you. I got you."

Later, maybe, she'd ask me what the big catch was, or would wonder if there was something I was hiding. Hard to counter all the trauma, fear, and lies she'd been hit with.

But right then, Rogue hugged another person without fear for the first time in what must have been weeks. That was enough for me.

We were like that for a good while. Not going to say how long. Rogue needed time to get herself together.

Afterward, I gave her a card. If she noticed the X-symbol on it, she didn't mention it. "I can call you with this?"

"Yeah. It's also got a few other numbers. Jen, my girlfriend, put the number of her law firm there, in case you need legal assistance. Tony is on there, if you want to ask about the watch."

"She-Hulk and Iron Man?" she asked, startled.

"Man, if those surprise you, wait till you find out the God of Thunder might stop by to say hi."

"Ha!" she grinned, looking up at me as I stood to my full height. "Does that mean I need to watch out for lightning?"

"Naw. Just keep an eye out," I said honestly. After all, Storm was in the area. I sighed. "Rogue. You can live whatever life you want from here. I'm not going to force you. But if you want help practicing with your powers, or just need a friend. Well. Try reaching out. Okay?"

"...No promises," she said softly.

That would have to do.

"Oh, and if anyone tries to pretend to be me, know that the card works to ID others carrying one," I added. "So if I show up screaming about how you're evil or something, it's bullshit."

With that, I twisted the dial. In a flash of light, I was in Fasttrack form.

"Whoa!" Rogue said, surprised.

"Later, skater," with a wave of two fingers, I spun around and zoomed off at super-speed, leaving the Southern belle behind me.

Thank god that hadn't been more awkward. I'd had a huge crush on her as a kid. Can you blame me? I was ten and she was a hot goth girl.

As of now, she was just a kid who needed help. A dangerous kid, with a possible bright future. Hopefully, I could help with that.

Running at Fasttrack speed was always so addictive. There is something so damn fun about blazing around while the world stood still. Granted, I could tell why Pietro sometimes got annoyed with how slow the world could be. Or why La Vent considered his speed a curse.

Thank god I could turn it off. For me, the fun moments between heartbeats was a choice.

As I ran past people, I thought about the watches I'd given Rogue and Scott. They were… expensive. Prohibitively expensive. Each one had been made for a specific problem, put together based on designs Tony had already been working on for a while to do the job.

Poly-tectic adaptive materials let it survive a whole lot of abuse. The on-board software to adjust to the power needs. Oh, and a specialized power source. The watches cost as much as a Quinjet. Each.

And of course, they were imperfect. If Scott really wanted to blast out a laser, if he put his full focus on forcing it out, his powers would eventually overload the systems and shatter the internal mechanism. Rogue, despite what she thought, might have enough control that she could do the same.

Which was fine. Last thing I wanted was for some techno villain to break through the safeties and force their powers off against their will. Did mean Magneto wouldn't let it work on him though. Maybe the next iterations.

Of course, one other thing. It did nothing for physical mutations. Sorry, Kurt. Blob. Toad. And a whole list of others.

As these thoughts ran through my head, I came to a skidding halt at my destination. There, a familiar man waited. "Huh. I guess I'm late."

"Not at all. I was just early," Fury, leaning against his new car. Well, old car, renewed. His Chevy Tahoe, a heavily modified and upgraded version, was a standard SHIELD one that Fitz had worked on with Shuri to restore and give to the superspy.

"How's she running?" I asked, joining the older man. He looked pretty happy, in his relaxed suit and long coat, his classic eyepatch on.

"Like a dream. How about yours?" he said with a nod to the Omnitrix.

"Same," I looked over at the building Fury had been waiting in front of. "I guess I don't need to ask?"

"Yeah, they're in there," Fury said. "Except the big fish. She's probably at work."

"Easier this way, I guess. After you, old man," I said, turning back into my human form in a flash.

"Kid, you've gotten real uppity lately," Fury grumbled with no real heat.

"Naaaah, I'm just fond of you now," we passed a sign as we walked. It read 'The Brotherhood Of Bayville Boarding House'.

We came to the steps of a large building. I knocked on the door, stepping back with Fury. As I waited, I wondered a couple of things.

Back in my universe, I'd watched X-Men Evolution. I remembered it fondly. And one thing I remember was that Quicksilver was a member of the Brotherhood, with Scarlet Witch following. That was clearly not the case here. Man, what is the point of meta-knowledge if it's useless a lot of the time?

So when the door opened and an unfamiliar young teen stood there, I was unsurprised. He was tall, fairly athletic for his young age, with brown skin a few shades lighter than my own, slicked-back black hair, and dark brown eyes. He looked us over, confused. When he spoke, it was with a bit of an Italian accent.

"Who the hell are-" then he stopped. His eyes widened.

First, he looked at Fury. The famous former head of SHIELD. More famous since he shot the leader of Hydra in the face on live television.

Then me. Dial.

His fingers clenched on the door. I spoke quickly before he could unleash hell. "We wanted to speak to you guys. Just speak. Nothing else."

He glared at me. "Or what!?"

"...seriously?" I asked him pointedly. I looked over at Fury. Fury rolled his eye and walked forward.

"Boy, you really don't want to ask questions like that," Fury pushed past the kid with the confidence of decades. "The guys you ask might answer."

I followed him after while the teenager sputtered. Fury stepped into the living room, where a massive mound of flesh was sitting on the couch. He stared at us weirdly as Fury sat down on a beat-up old armoire. I took a spot just behind Fury while looking around.

The place was cleaner than I expected. Granted, still messy, since, you know, teenage boys, but the garbage was empty at least. Guess Mystique ran a tight enough ship that the place wasn't a toxic wasteland.

"Uh, who are you?" the big kid asked, sounding just a bit lost.

"I'm Nick Fury, Agent of BRIDGE," Fury sat back in the seat with his usual Sam Jackson cool.

"Some people call him a bad mutha-"

"Shut your mouth," Fury cut me off.

"I'm just talking about Fury."

Fury didn't laugh, but he did give me an amused smile. The large kid on the other hand looked confused. Not a fan of classic blaxploitation films probably.

Three others rushed into the room. One, the slick-haired kid who'd opened the door. Then, a long-haired kid wearing a black t-shirt and a brown vest. Finally, a kid who literally hopped into the room, with pallid grey-green skin and the worst teeth I'd ever seen in a teenager. Their appearance seemed to spur the large kid into action, who stumbled up to his feet.

The long-haired one took the lead. "What is going on here!?"

The room shook. Something fell in the house. Impressive stuff. One clenched fist and suddenly there was an earthquake.

"We came here to talk," Fury said. "Just that."

"Yo, what if we don't want to-" the green-skinned kid said.

"Todd Tolansky," I pointed at him. "Frederick Dukes," the large kid. "Lance Alvers," long hair. "And Gunther Bain." That was the slicked-back hair one.

Fury took over. "Or, as you have codenamed yourselves. Toad. Blob. Avalanche. And Unus the Untouchable… little ostentatious on the last one."

"Fuck you," the aforementioned Unus spat out.

"Told you," Toad whispered. "Plus, it sounds like Anu-"

"What the hell do you want!?!" Lance spat out.

"Like Fury said. To talk. Because obviously, we know what you are. Mutants. Powered humans. And we came here to make you an offer."

The batch of teenagers glared at us with varying levels of anger.

"Part of the offer is a massive bundle of cash," I added helpfully.

The anger lowered a significant amount.

"...We're listening," Lance said hesitantly.

"It's pretty simple," I began. "We know you guys have powers. Not insignificant ones either."

"Did the X-Nerds tell you that?" Gunther asked.

"No, our research did. It's how we know you can form force fields around you, for example."

Unus the Untouchable. I had never heard of him, back in my world. Likely he was one of those X-Men characters that just didn't show up too often. In this world, Gunther Bain, born Angelo Unuscione was an Italian immigrant who had moved to Bayville after spending some time in New York City. He'd gone to the same school as Spyke actually, confirming he'd taken on, at least in spirit, the role that Pietro had in the X-Men Evolution universe.

I wondered who had taken Wanda's role before focusing up.

"But, despite what your principal would say, you guys have been using your powers to bully, attack, and otherwise abuse others," I said without holding back.

"Hey, you can't prove it," Toad said quickly.

"We don't have to right now. As I said, we came with an offer. I'm just letting you know why we're extending it, rather than having Hulk drop out of the sky."

That last part stilled them. Even Blob looked worried.

"Here's the basics, boys," Fury said. "I've been authorized to offer you all a job. With BRIDGE's Grappler unit. Come work with us. We'll provide you with pay, training, and a place to live. You want an education? We can provide the best."

"What if we don't want to go to school?" Blob asked, looking worried.

For a moment, I felt for him. His school records reminded me that modern education dropped the ball in a lot of ways, especially for kids like him with possible developmental issues.

"Then we'll talk it over," Fury said diplomatically.

"Fuck that," Lance snapped, the ground shaking again. "What do you want? Why are you even making this offer?"

"Because you guys might end up in jail if we don't try to intervene. Or dead," the sigh that left me then shook my lungs. "Lance. You can quake buildings apart. In fact, you have. If you cause that kind of damage wily-nily, and you don't stop, then cops will have to intervene. And they'll likely kill you. Because you are powerful. Not bulletproof."

I looked over at Unus and Blob. "Now, you two are bulletproof. Which means I get called in. And one of my options to beat you is tossing you into lava."

The smug looks on their faces faded.

"Hey, what about me!?" Toad squawked.

We all looked over at him.

"Well you are very agile and even fairly strong for your size… but would you really like to have The God of Thunder or the Doomslayer of Rio come after you?"

Toad paled. And yeah, Doomslayer of Rio. You're welcome, Frank.

After a long moment, I continued. "So we are making you an offer. But beyond that, we have an ultimatum."

"Stop causing trouble," Fury said. His smirk was gone. Instead, a single intimidating eye glared at them. "We know about you. We know what you can do. And we don't mind you having powers. But you are done. No more buildings quaking apart. No more kidnapping others. No more random fights."

The ground began to shake. Blob's face began to twist in rage. Unus glared at us.

I stepped forward then. I looked them over one by one.

The teenagers tried to glare me down.

Then, the ground calmed as Lance slowly unclenched his fists. Blob stepped back. Unus eyed me warily.

Guess my reputation proceeded me.

"You're lucky," Fury said. "If you were adults, we'd have taken you in. As of now? Those are your choices. Join BRIDGE and get paid handsomely. Stay as you are and stop causing trouble. Or cause trouble."

That last one didn't need any additions.

Fury got up. I followed him calmly. "Think about it. Here's a card," Fury handed Lance one. Similar to Rogue and the X-Men's versions, with a G for Grappler. And a fuckton more restrictions. "My number is in there."

"'In'?" Unus asked, confused.

"It's a phone," I said, not explaining further.

We walked up to the door, not looking back at the kids.

"Hey," Blob said.

Fury and I stopped, turning to look at him. He looked hesitant. "Um… how much money do we get?"

I named a figure. A very large one.

Then Fury and I left the shocked kids behind.

"I feel kind of bad, bugging their place like that," I told Fury as we entered his car.

"Had to be done," the older man started up his car. "We need to monitor them."

"Yeah. I'm just happy we got out without a fight. Those kids are damn volatile. I think Blob was ready to start swinging."

Fury scoffed. "These kids are going to end up causing a lot of damage if they continue as they are. Same with the X-Men."

"Fury-"

"I don't care what kind of soft spot you've got for them. The kids on that team have caused a lot of damage. Both of them are teenagers. That gets them a lighter sentence, not a get-out-of-jail-free card for stupidity…"

"I was going to say I agreed completely."

"...Huh," he blinked at that.

I may have been a fan of the X-Men, but I'd spent enough time around other heroes, being a hero, that my hero-worship was way lower than my pragmatism. I leaned against the window as I sat there, thinking. Fury wasn't wrong. We hadn't had time to talk about it. But the two groupss of kids had caused some property damage recently. Nothing that couldn't be repaired, and no one hurt so bad they couldn't heal.

But enough that they would have been sued a couple of dozen times.

An argument could be made for Scott since he didn't ask for the lack of control, but even he'd done some damage on purpose.

Either way, I felt uncomfortable misleading the Brotherhood. The way we'd worded it, they would get training in their powers. But they weren't about to become Avengers anymore than the X-Men were. Maria had gotten some therapists ready to go, unorthodox teachers, had Creel, the Grapplers, and a few former criminals turned BRIDGE Elites to drop in.

Training, schooling, and pay. And maybe, when they turned 18, they could decide for themselves what they wanted, after plenty of mentoring.

Like I'd told the X-Men kids, we weren't down for child soldiers.

"Also, that green kid-"

"Smelled."

"Like absolute shit, he needs a few showers. But also, he's leaving," I looked up to see Toad leaving the house. He was talking in towards… the same place we were going.

"Makes sense they'd try to reach out to her," I said softly.

"Then we need to beat them to it," Fury started driving. "If you're right, she might be trouble."

Yeah. Maybe we'd get lucky and she would look like Jennifer Lawrence.

Unlikely, but hopes were high.

We got to Bayville High. Fury and I walked into the office, striding past the secretary. When we entered the Principal's office, she was shocked to see us.

She had short brown hair, high cheekbones, and brown eyes. None of which mattered.

"Raven Darkhölme? I'm Nicholas Fury," he said with a grim look on his face. "This is Dial, of the Avengers. We're here to talk to you about-"

The brown-haired woman's eyes narrowed. "What are you doing here? Who let you in?"

"The law," Fury snapped. He glared at her. That led me to remember that Nick Fury in the comics was actually one of the first people to take on Mystique. Along with Captain Marvel… Huh, what is Carol up to?

Fury sat down again, while I stood behind him. "We came here to talk to you about a few things. Namely, your powers."

She stared at him. Then she looked over at me. Then she leaned back in her seat, harsh eyes glaring. "Do you?"

"Yes… Mystique," I paused. "You've got blue skin."

That was enough apparently.

Pale white flowed into soft blue. The smart pantsuit became a flowing white dress. Brown eyes shifted to gold. Brown hair became long and scarlet, the color of blood.

Mystique leaned back in her chair. "Then it seems you know more than you should. Are you here to arrest me for having powers? Because while I may lose my job, I don't believe you could hold me for that."

"Oh sweetheart," I smirked. "That's just the tip of the iceberg."

She smirked back. "You have no idea."

Doubt that. Sorry Mystique. But this is my house now.

Still… I kept an eye on the metal in the room. Just in case.