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Sabine watched the girl walk away, the feel of her lips imprinted on her wrist. Sabine’s mind washed with conflicting thoughts and emotions. At equal measures she wanted to follow the girl, do whatever it was she had in mind before she was needed for her physical examination and, even then, it was almost like she didn’t want to do the contest anymore.

And that scared her.

The Sabine before would have jumped at the chance. She would have showed her a good time in some closet nearby and made her world rock. But that wasn’t who she was anymore. Right? Because even if she wanted to run and forget, even for a moment, that was not how it worked anymore. She remembered. She had to remember.

Leah. April.

As much as she was hurt, she knew if she did anything untoward it would hurt both of them. And as mad as she was at April she didn’t want her hurt anymore.

Sabine felt her phone vibrate and looked. She stared at the screen a moment. The long dead text chain, the group of them, had been replied to. From Leah. What did that mean? If Leah wanted to talk to her they were in the same room at the same hotel. Sabine read it, the frantic words echoing on the screen. Sabine, at first, was confused.

Then panic. Whatever this was, Leah was worried. It was hard to convey tone in text but the messages screamed worry. Sabine put her phone away and began to head to their room, sure she would find Leah there.

And ran almost face-first into the girl.

Sabine was about to check but she looked into Leah’s eyes, took in her expression. And Sabine’s heart fell. And her words reverberated in her mind.

Did he hurt you?

”What? Leah? Who are you talking about? What’s wrong?”

”He’s- Where? He knows where you are- I tried to find you sooner but- He’s-“ She was talking too fast for her brain to keep up, and she looked ready to kill somebody.

”Where the fuck is he?”

”Leah get a grip! Who are you talking about?” Sabine had never seen Leah so freaked out before. So hell-bent on finding…whoever it was she was referring to. Whoever this person was he was enough to freak Leah out.

And then it hit her.

”Fuck…it’s your father, isn’t it?”

”Yes it’s my fucking- Immediately, Leah stopped herself and just put a hand out. She didn’t want to scream at her.

”Look. I trust you.”

Sabine felt her heart race. The stories surrounding Leah’s father were always with a tint of fear. How strong he was. How Leah, as cool as she tried to be, always seemed fearful of him. So the fact he was here was…

Sabine knew what she had to do. What Leah was allowing her to do. If for no other reason than to see it with her own eyes. So Sabine nodded, staring directly into Leah’s eyes as she opened her mind up to her. Sabine willed herself inside easily enough without Leah fighting it. Sabine hated this even if Leah gave her permission. It felt like a betrayal. But needs must.

Sabine observed the most recent memory. It wasn’t hard to find. In it she saw through Leah’s eyes a man standing before her. Instantly Sabine felt weighted down. The emotions stacking on top of her. Fear. Anger. Sadness. A tsunami of them washing over her. Leah’s father looking at her, the smug expression. Sabine wanted to punch that grin off of his face.

And then Leah’s father mentioned her by name. He knew who she was. Knew she was here. And essentially threatened Leah with her own demise. Sabine felt her breathing slow. Panic rising.

She quickly exited and leaned on the wall nearby for support. Leah’s father knew she was here and knew what she looked like. Which meant at any point he could have showed up and Sabine would have been none the wiser, especially if he was sneaky about it. But even then, Sabine knew what he looked like but that didn’t mean much. She was so distracted. By the contest. By Leah. By April. She could have been killed. Easily.

And, of course, whatever Leah was going through.

”Leah, we need to find April.” The things unsaid, but surely known.

If he knew who Sabine was, he knew April. And right now April was alone.

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Diana started to unpack some of her clothes putting them down onto her bed, she had her phone on the bed next to her she started to think about texting her brother to see if he had settled in okay over at Danni and Dorian's home. Though she would have a feeling that he would have ignored her text, but she knew that Diana would see him again for the examination. She wanted to apologize for the way she did react to both Dorian and Percy she knew the way she reacted wasn't right at all. And Diana was on the same team with Percy as well to, and they needed to work together.

Diana got the text from Vision, they needed to meet back down in the lobby and head over to Strange Academy to get the examinations done and out of the way. And if she didn't show up she would be disqualified and all of the training that Diana had done would be all for nothing to. She put her clothes back down and grabbed her phone and started to make her way out of her hotel room, looking over at Leah, and Sabine it sounded like they were having some intense conversation as she made her way back down to the lobby to meet up with all of the others that were going over.

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Madalyne decided to put her bag down onto her bed and sat down on it for a moment looking around, it reminded her of her room back home which was very nice and cozy. She went over and started to unpack some of her clothes laying them neatly on the bed, she took a moment to look at one of her shirts. She ran a hand through the holes in the back that would allow her wings through, a few months ago it didn't have them. Madalyne quickly shook her head as she folded it up and started to make her way out of the room, she knew that the examinations over at Strange Academy were very soon and she didn't want to get disqualified.

Madalyne left the room and closed the door behind her, making sure that it was locked as she made her way back towards the foyer of the house hearing Danni and seeing that Andy had came back after visiting the neighbor. "So when do we head over to Strange Academy?" Madalyne asked, she wanted to get the whole examination done and over with.

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Dorian had led Percy through an antique green living room, soft couches that appeared to be as old as the French Quarter itself while still being in impeccable shape. Brass and antique knick knacks were strewn across the room interspersed with framed photos of the family on various vacations or holidays. They made their way over plush rugs that you could sink your hands into before finally entering the new hallway that had appeared for the guests. It seemed to stretch on for a while, a rug running the length of it as golden ceiling lamps with uranium green glass lit the way. Doors lined the walls on either side, but the key had stopped them short near the entrance of the hall. When the door opened it revealed Dorian's dorm room, and it seemed Percy was just as confused as Dorian was.

”Non? ‘Old on maybe it's bugged some’ow.” Dorian replied as he closed the door, took the key from Percy's hand and began to bang it against his palm like an etch n sketch. He tried the door again and still it showed his half of the dorm room. Percy began to make his way in and Dorian followed behind. ”Weird. T'e magic usually makes a room you feel comfortable in to ‘elp you be able to relax and sleep better. Not sure why it isn't workin’ today…maybe all t'e people at once are over loadin’ it?”

Percy studied the room again for a moment, before returning his attention to Dorian once more. If it was supposed to make a room he would feel comfortable in… They hadn’t often used Dorian’s room, as Percy’s came with the privacy of having no roommates, but he had spent a good amount of time using his boyfriend’s bed. ”I see,” he murmured. ”I think it is working, then,” he said somewhat cryptically. He felt more relaxed whenever Dorian was around. There was a tension in his body that just seemed to vanish, one he hadn’t even been aware of until it was gone. Of course, if the magic really wanted him to sleep better, it would have just allowed him to spend the night with him. He’d become rather accustomed to sleeping curled up against Dorian.

Dorian raised an eyebrow at his boyfriend. Moving closer to him as a smile crept upon his lips. ”Is it now?” He spied the closed door and looked back at Percy, giving him a soft kiss. ”Are you sayin you feel relaxed in my room Perce?” He asked before giving him another kiss and wrapping his arms around his waist.

He nodded slightly, stepping in to close the gap between them. ”I thought you would have noticed that by now,” Percy mused, with an ever so slight flash of a smirk. When Dorian first met him, Percy had laid down in bed essentially as a corpse would, his body rigid and stiff. Things had changed since then. He placed his hands on Dorian’s shoulders, returning the gentle kiss, and once it had ended, he stared into his boyfriend’s eyes, mesmerized for a moment by the color. They had been and still were the most gorgeous eyes he’d ever seen.

”Maybe I just wanted to ‘ear you- ah!” Dorian yelped as the floor beneath him vanished, a small portal in its place. Seeing through it would show the examination wait area, not that Percy would have the chance to as a similar portal opened up beneath him as well. Max was in the kitchen, coffee in one hand as the other twirled about, mirror images of his arm mimicking the motion as each and every child in the Estate would be Portaled over to the wait area. ”Times up!” Max called before taking another sip of his coffee.

Percy’s eyes widened, as Dorian suddenly vanished in front of him with a scream, and the ground beneath his own feet gave way - with an ease that never came to him when he was focusing on making a jump, the air around Percy shimmered and he reappeared in the hallway outside of Dorian’s - outside of his? - outside of the room. ”Dorian?!” But before he could even really comprehend the situation, the floor seemingly vanished again, as he fell straight on through, and landed with a thud in what looked like a hospital waiting room decorated for Halloween.

”Slippery little bastard. Doesn't he know everything has a cost?” Max grumbled as he began to make his way back to his room to change for the event.

Meanwhile Dorian watched as one by one the students plopped into their own seats in the area, smiling when Percy finally joined in. ”What took you so long?”

His shoulders slumped as he saw Dorian was there - wherever there was… He couldn’t help but feel disoriented as he looked around the room, seeing more of the students from the Kingston-Gray house fall into seats. There were kids from other schools there too, but no one else that he recognized from the Margaret Carter Institute. This must have been Strange Academy, then. ”I… I jumped. Does your dad normally do that? I assume that was your dad?”

”T'e portals? Yeah. It's t'e easiest way to transport and ‘ow we get to all of our vacation spots. And well…we were cuttin’ it a bit close to time.” Dorian said a bit shyly as if Percy was judging him for his families antics.

Percy nodded again, missing the bit of hesitation in Dorian’s voice. One glance down at his watch told him that Dorian was right - they had less than twenty minutes until they were due to be here. It did concern him that he didn’t see any of the others, but… Perhaps they were still dealing with Nemo’s death. And presumably, they would have to walk here from their hotel. If nothing else, he was somewhat glad actually that the others weren’t here - as it meant another moment free from his sister’s company. ”Well, it’s too bad they interrupted us,” he said with a slight sigh. He then glanced around the room again, before gently reaching out and taking Dorian’s hand.

Dorian squeezed Percy's hand in his… smiling. ”We'll ‘ave plenty of time for ourselves later at least. For now we should focus on t'e contest. I wanna make sure our debut is somet'in’ to be remembered…but in a good way!”

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Harry looked down the top of his sunglasses as Billy asked if he was actually supposed to be here. He was the son of the Scarlet Witch after all. Maybe it was just their luck that a person with that kind of power may have messed with Terry's ability to leave a coherent note. ”Here as in the New Orleans French Quarter? Yes. But this…hotel? No. Somehow we got mixed up and ended up here instead of where we were meant to. My friend's kid is in the Contest of Champions, so we're here to support them in the stands.” Harry spoke between poses for the photos.

”And I’m here because I’m a good wife.” Eva winked. She looked back at Gideon. ”I hope you make that ex of yours drooling jealous.”

Eva heard someone curse and looked over. She noticed the puffy eyed girl standing near Vision. Eva paused. She hadn’t really paid that much attention to what was going on with the teens when they first came in. But she realized that Harry had asked the kid, Billy, if he was the Scarlet Witches kid, and there was Vision.

”You’re all in the Contest too?” She was honestly a little surprised. Eva was scatterbrained and had picked up on that they were here for some contest between a bunch of mutant schools. She couldn’t imagine that happening when she was a kid. It was heartwarming.

Billy gasped at Harry’s revelation, putting a hand behind him in shock, landing on Teddy’s chest. He’d done it again, then. He’d conjured up a meet-and-greet with two of his favorite pop stars. The stress of dealing with demiurge must have been getting to him, he hadn’t had a lapse in control like this since the Luna Snow ice skating incident last fall. “... I’m so sorry!!” he bowed his head slightly, pressing the palms of his hands together nervously. “That was probably me, I can’t always control my powers, a-and there’s been so much going on with the end of the world or the universe and these gods of magics and the Mother a-and - I think I might have maybe accidentally warped reality to bring you here? Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?”

“Billy…” Teddy said softly, putting an arm around his boyfriend’s waist. “We don’t know that you did this, okay? And no one was hurt, even if you did, alright?”

Gideon nodded. “Oh, I will,” she promised. “And yeah, I guess we are - we’re the Avengers Academy teams, unless they switched up the line-up again, they keep doing that and tbh I have nooo idea who is on my team anymore. I’m shocked I’m still here.”

Davie raised an eyebrow. “Oh, are you on Dorian and Danni’s team then?” he asked, a bit excited. “We’re his uncles - and aunts - and some of us are both, to be honest. Uncle-aunts. Aaanyways should we be finding our way to our hotel? Seems like these kiddos have to head on out.”

Val frowned slightly. It made her somewhat anxious, the idea that a reality warping child had caused them to be displaced here. She didn’t have memories of Wanda’s reality - none of the four of them here did - but she had heard about it from the others with the Mutant Underground, how the Scarlet Witch had altered people’s memories, forcing them into a new context without their consent. The notion that Billy had done the same, on a far smaller scale admittedly, was unsettling. She couldn’t plan for that - she couldn’t rationalize out contingencies and options. She couldn’t protect Eva and Harry and Davie.

The Vision cleared his throat, approaching the celebrities. “Excuse me. Billy, Teddy, Gideon - we must depart, I am afraid, or we will be late for your examination.”

Harry scruffed the top of Billy's head as he bent over to apologize. ”Seriously kid, it's ok. We were meant to be here anyways, especially if you believe in Fate with a capital F. Then it's unavoidable. Though, is your mom going to be here?” He asked. He'd heard what Billy was rambling about and it seemed like something the other mages…wizards? The magically inclined, should get involved with. With Max, Strange, Agatha, and potentially Wanda here now it may be best to warn them if they weren't already aware. That was when Vision came up, Harry didn't know him as well, more so from the others than any real personal interactions. ”Listen to Viz, that's what you can do for me as a favour.”

”That sounds like a lot, Billy.” Eva sympathized. She smiled at Gideon and patted the young girl on the shoulder. ”You’ll do great I’m sure. If you’re fighting with that sword it’ll be spectacular. I know I’m supposed to be cheering on Danni and Dorian, but I’ll cheer for you too.” Especially if you are on the same team, she thought. Her eyes darted over the other students that had come into the lobby. A few of them looked distressed. She wondered why, what was causing them to be so upset. They should be excited. Eva understood intellectually that people had stage fright. She also just didn’t understand it.

If Billy hadn’t already been embarrassed, having Harry freaking Simmons ruffle his head like he was a little kid was more than enough to do it. Harry Simmons was one of his celebrity crushes - sure, he was twice Billy’s age, but… A boy could dream, right? “Oh! Um. I’m not sure? She’s dealing with something - something about all realities being cut off from each other,” he said with a shrug, as if explaining that Wanda was just out doing errands.

He then glanced at his father, and nodded. “Sure, I’ll listen to my dad…” That was harder than it seemed lately.

Valerie, meanwhile, was becoming increasingly concerned. Everything Billy was talking about sounded insane - but she had been enchanted by a goddess and forced to kill her friends, the more insane a thing sounded, the more plausible it became. Should they really be attending a sports event while things of that magnitude were happening? It had been years since she’d done superheroics, and out of habit, her hand slipped into her pocket, grabbing her phone, and she started to scroll through the contacts, looking for a choice few in particular. Maybe Pixie would be available for a quick chat…

“Awesome!” Gideon preened. “Hey, do you wanna be our coach? Ours fucking died.”

Yet another magical issue to account for that sounded of insane magnitudes. Harry had to wonder if Fate truly did bring him here for the sole purpose of learning of these threats to better help the others prepare. ”Shame, I'll have to catch her next time I can. But we should probably get going. Need to check in to our hotel still and you kids need to have an examination it seems-” Harry's thought cut off as one of the kids mentioned their coach died. He looked towards Vision for any guidance on the matter.

Eva managed to keep her jaw from dropping. Not just reality having problems, but also their coach dying.

”Sorry, I wouldn’t know where to begin as a coach. Unless it was a dance battle or something.” The sword in Eva’s show was fake. She had a fight choreographer hired specifically to help her design that show. As for real battle, she’d be useless.

The synthezoid visibly grimaced. “Ms. Pearlman, we do not speak about the dead like that,” the Vision chided lightly. “I am sure, Ms, uh… Ms. Moore has more than enough on her plate. And we really must leave for Strange Academy, or you all risk disqualification.” His eyes then glanced backwards, seeing his niece fix her gaze on the pop stars - and a quick analysis of her body language told him what was about to happen before it occurred.

”H-hi, I’m - I’m April, can I - can I take a selfie with you? Or just a photo of you? To show my friends? They both love your music - I mean, I love your music too, and, like, your MTV show look? That was, like, my gay awakening,” April gushed, her face a quickly deepening shade of pink, her hands trembling, both from the medication and from the sheer emotional whiplash. Nemo was dead, her friends were having fun without her, but Evanthe fucking Moore was here! And Harry Simmons! ”A-and oh my god, you’re - you’re Harry Simmons! You weren’t my gay awakening because I’m a lesbian but you’re so cool! Your music is killer! And like the collabs you two have done together? They’re so incredibly amazing a-and you’re both amazing a-and so cool and - is it okay to take a selfie?” She hadn’t caught the other man mentioning Danni and Dorian already, she’d been too wrapped up in a gay panic at seeing Evanthe to really fully process what was happening, and her brain was already a bit like soup on a good day lately.

Davie’s eyebrows were practically about to fall off his face, as he telepathically whispered to his little group: These kids are messsssy.

“I’ll be your gay awakening,” Gideon muttered under her breath, even though April couldn’t hear her over her own word vomit - and even though April wasn’t the one she was crushing on. But hey, any port in a storm.

Eva was thankful for the save from Vision but another of the teens came over and was gushing. Eva couldn’t help but smile. She gently put her hand on the girl’s shoulder.

”Of course I’ll take a selfie with you. I love a good ‘gay awakening’ story.” She winked. Eva wrapped her arm around April’s shoulder, and let her take out her phone for the photo. ”You best be going quickly though.” Once April took the photos Eva pulled her into a hug. She couldn’t have told you why if you asked her, but a part of her felt like April really needed a good hug.

Once Eva let go of April, Harry came in with his arm around her shoulder, Mindful of where his hands were placed so that no bad spin could be created for a PR nightmare. Snapping a few selfies with the girl before letting go once more. ”Listen to the Popstars, you need to get going or you'll miss the contest. As for your Coach…I'm sorry to hear about that but i dont think I'm qualified to coach kids at this contest. Im sure theres some paperwork involved that I certainly don't have.”

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April felt completely dazed. Not only had she gotten selfies with Evanthe and Harry, but Evanthe had hugged her. She hadn't even asked for a hug! And one had happened anyways! Her body felt like it was tingling, the excitement shaking throughout her. She hadn't managed to hug Evanthe back the way she would have liked to - she'd held her hands purposefully a bit away from the pop star, not wanting the trembling to freak her out - and her brain was still short circuiting, playing that all over and over again in a loop.

The minute she had her phone back, she quickly sent the pictures in that same group chat to Danni and Dorian, captioned with only a !!!!! But before she could add anything else, she saw a notification in a group chat she had thought she'd muted - one that hadn't been touched since her time in CAGE. Ordinarily, the sight of that chat being active would have filled her with dread, her stomach twisting into knots. But she was so energized from meeting Evanthe and Harry, it was like the bad feelings couldn't touch her - like she was immune, some sort of energy shield bouncing them away harmlessly.

The texts in that chat didn't make sense though - Leah had been the one to leave the bathroom, she knew where April was - or rather, where she had been. The lobby wasn't far either, so there was no way Leah would have missed her. And who was he? And Vicosn? She tilted her head slightly, torn between looking at the pop stars more in awe, figuring out what Leah meant, and doing as Vision said and heading to the examination for the Contest of Champions.

... For the Contest of Champions.

April's eyes widened as it hit her. They had less than ten minutes to get to Strange Academy!! They needed to show up for the examination - if they didn't make it to the examination, then they couldn't compete! And if they couldn't compete, then the rest of the team would be let down by their absence! And then when the team couldn't compete, it would be their fault! And she refused to allow that to happen. The stars had aligned to let her onto a team with Danni and Dorian, this was destiny, this was fate - they were going to win, with Ser Nemo's ghost smiling down on them. The Young Avengers, they were just kids, they weren't gods, they weren't invincible - and what better underdog story would there be than the new kids beating the old champs?

Meanwhile, the Vision looked around to see if all of his charges were accounted for - and all of them were, save for Ms. Bassard and Ms. Jordan. He pursed his lips slightly, and sighed. There was only one of him. And it would not do for them to be late. He glanced at his own students. "Ms. Chavez, if you would be so kind? One portal to the school, and if you would, please leave it open - I will wait on this side for our stragglers."

America grinned slightly, popping her gum. "On it!" She then cracked her knuckles, and threw a punch forward - reality cracked where her fist connected, as a gigantic star shaped fissure appeared, entangling two distant portions of space - the hotel lobby, and a mystical waiting room of sorts, where dozens of students were milling about with clipboards, filling out paperwork and awaiting their turn to be seen by the medical examiners to qualify them for the contest.

"Go on through, children."

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Percy nodded slightly. He knew how important the Contest of Champions was to Dorian. He cared about it, of course, but his reasons were different. He hated losing. That was his primary reason. Had he been on a team with his boyfriend, still, he would have given the secondary reason that it was important to Dorian, therefore it was important to him. But in the shuffle, Percy had been reassigned, placed on a team with his sister despite the redundancy in their powers - and despite the way his mind filled with a thousand scathing insults to direct her way. Diana was lucky Percy didn't have any healing powers, because if he had, there would be little chance of him directing healing her way during the match.

"I'm sure your debut will be incredible," Percy said, even with a slight pang as without me ran through his mind. It occurred to him it was entirely possible that he'd have to face Dorian in the arena in the next few days. Would he be able to fight his boyfriend, in order to secure a win? Could he raise up his axe and charge at him? He honestly didn't know. "What would you say your weaknesses are?" he then asked playfully. "And the main strategies that you are going to utilize?"

A clipboard would the shimmer and appear in the hands of each student there to compete in the contest - it contained several key documents, such as a summary of the Contest of Champions rules, as well as a medical questionnaire. Percy raised an eyebrow, as he glanced at the paperwork - some of the rules seemed too obvious to have to be spelled out. Only being allowed to compete on one team - who would try to compete on multiple? He rolled his eyes slightly.

Meanwhile, as more and more students continued to file in, a voice was projected all around them, such that no one would be able to determine its point of origin - "Welcome, Champions! Please fill out your pre-examination packet, and then proceed to the nearest available examination room once you are ready. If you need assistance or have any questions, please raise your hand and a staff member will come to assist you."

The room then blurred slightly, as ten doors appeared - ten different examination rooms, ready to handle the almost one hundred students present.





And before Percy could begin to fill out his forms, a star-shaped crack in reality appeared before him - and through it stepped the current champions, the Young Avengers!! (And Mary Sue, Zelda, Gideon, and April).

He was beginning to suspect his mutant gift of teleportation was not nearly as special as his mothers had insisted.