Chapter 295:

  The waves pped against the shore as I watched my three little angels—Hilga, Sia, and Lia—ugh and squeal, attempting to master the art of body surfing. Their tiny arms filed against the waves as they threw themselves forward, tumbling into the foamy surf, only to pop up giggling. Natasha and Andrea were nearby, teaching them how to get that perfect bance, while I hovered above the water, my 16 bck wings spread wide, catching the sunlight. It felt like a perfect day.

  [Incoming.]

  A sudden tingling ran down my spine, there was a familiar energy approaching fast. I turned, just in time to see Carol Danvers flying through the sky, stopping inches from me with a grin as brilliant as the sun. We exchanged smiles, and she let her gaze linger over me, taking in my risque beach outfit. "You look really good in a bikini, Lay," she teased, eyes roving over me with obvious appreciation. Her eyes lingered on my breasts and thighs the longest.

  "I'll never turn down Fttery from a pretty dy," I chuckled, brushing a strand of hair behind my ear. "When did you get back to Earth?" I asked her.

  "Only a few days ago," she said casually. "I spent the past two years in space—keeping the gaxy safe, keeping tabs on the biggest Empires and the Celestials especially." Her gaze shifted to my wings, then back to me. "Looks like you’ve added a few feathers since I st saw you. And your little ones… they’re adorable."

  I felt my smile falter for a second, a pang of sadness breaking through. "Yeah," I replied quietly, gncing down at Hilga, Sia, and Lia, spshing around, blissfully unaware. "I was... trapped in a bck hole for two years. Missed so much of their lives. I’m just trying to make up for it now, you know?"

  Carol’s eyes softened, and without a word, she closed the space between us, wrapping her arms around me in a warm, reassuring hug. Maybe the hug lingered a bit longer than it should have, but neither of us seemed to mind.

  "Momma!" Lia’s voice called up to us, and I pulled back, looking down to see three pairs of little hands waving up at me.

  "Come py with us!" they all shouted.

  Carol gnced down at the water while chuckling. "I really should’ve brought a bathing suit since I knew you were at the beach."

  I smirked. "That’s not a problem. I’ve got you covered." Using Creation of All Things, I easily created a bikini that matched my own, except hers was pure white. “Now we match!”

  [And now you get to ogle her wearing a bikini just as skimpy as yours…]

  Carol raised an eyebrow, clearly amused. "You know my size?"

  She took the bikini with a grin, and since the beach was mostly deserted, she didn’t hesitate to shed her uniform right there in mid-air. As she changed, I couldn’t help but steal a few gnces at her own bare breasts and hairless lower lips. Carol was a lot bolder than I remembered her.

  [If she’s been doing nothing but fighting in space for two years, then she’s down bad…]

  Once Carol was dressed in her bikini, she floated back to me, a sly smile pying on her lips. We drifted down to the water, ughing and spshing as we joined Natasha, Andrea, and the girls. Hilga, Sia, and Lia immediately tched onto us, their ughter and squeals filling the air. The waves surged around us as we all pyed, with Carol and me helping the girls float on their tiny surfboards. Natasha and Andrea ughed as they held the girls’ hands, while Carol rexed in a way I hadn’t seen before, fully joining in the fun.

  After a while, Carol floated closer to me, her expression suddenly turning serious. “You know, one of the main reasons I’m back on Earth is because of the Convergence,” she said, keeping her voice low. “It’s drawing all sorts of energy, and some worlds might try to invade during it.”

  I chuckled, shaking my head. “I don’t doubt it,” I replied, more amused than concerned. “The Dark Elves are bound to make a move. They’ve probably been itching for revenge on Odin—though they don’t know he’s dead.”

  Carol raised an eyebrow, intrigued. “And if they do, what do you think will happen?”

  “They’ll learn the hard way,” I said confidently. “Under He’s rule, Asgard is stronger than ever. And that’s not counting my fallen angel siblings, who are stationed there now. If the Dark Elves try anything, it’ll be their funeral.”

  Carol chuckled, and we spent the next few hours basking in the simple joys of sunshine, sand, and surf. Eventually, though, the girls started to get tired and hungry.

  I scooped Lia up, kissing her cheek. “How about we all get some dinner? Are there any good seafood pces nearby?” I asked Andrea.

  Andrea pulled out her phone. “Let’s see… Jarvis, can you find us a nearby restaurant?”

  “Certainly, Ms. Andrea,” Jarvis’s familiar voice chimed from the speaker. A second ter, Andrea smiled. “There’s a fish restaurant with amazing reviews just down the beach a few miles.”

  “Perfect,” I said, and with a wave of my hand, I opened a purple portal right in front of us. One by one, we stepped through, nding on a lively beach near the restaurant.

  Unlike the quiet stretch we’d just left, this beach was crowded with families, couples, and groups of friends, all frozen mid-movement as we appeared. I ughed, giving a small wave to the crowd while leading the girls toward the entrance, knowing my face was one of the most recognized on the pnet.

  Inside, the hostesses and waitstaff stopped dead, openly staring as we entered. Andrea took the lead, striding up to the hostess with her usual calm. “Could we rent the restaurant for the next hour? We’ll pay triple your daily revenue.”

  One of the managers stepped forward, eyes practically shining with greed. “Absolutely, ma’am! Right this way.”

  We were led to the rgest booth. The girls' faces all lit up in excitement as they were handed kids menus and crayons that they could use to color them with.

  Carol leaned back, watching the kids happily scribble on their papers. “Pying on the beach, a meal at a restaurant… This is a lot more mundane than I was expecting another day with you would be.”

  Natasha ughed, slipping her hand into mine. “What, you expected nonstop gaxy-saving action?”

  Carol smirked and shrugged. “Maybe a little…”

  I ughed along with them, savoring this rare moment of peace and normalcy. The waitress approached, still a bit wide-eyed, and we pced our orders. I ordered for the three girls since they were all too busy coloring to really care.

  …

  The night air was cool, and the city below was quiet. It was one of those rare, peaceful moments.

  Carol and I sat side by side on the rooftop of my penthouse, the wind gently tousling our hair. I’d just finished filling her in on everything that had happened on Earth DXD while she was gone—the Behemoth’s attack on Japan, Riser Phenex’s brutal assault on New York and D.C., and the war in the underworld. The more I spoke, the more Carol’s expression shifted from surprise to disbelief.

  “That’s… a lot, Lay,” she finally managed, her tone ced with shock and just a hint of admiration.

  I looked down, the unease still gnawing at me. “Carol… do you think I’m a monster? For letting my siblings wipe out the devils?” My voice was barely a whisper, but Carol heard.

  A second ter, she moved closer, wrapping her arm gently around my shoulders. “Lay, you’re not a monster,” she said firmly, giving my shoulder a reassuring squeeze. “If anyone would know, it’s me.” She hesitated, her face shifting as if debating how much to reveal. “I’ve done far worse things—things I’ve only hinted at before.”

  I turned to look at her, curiosity and concern blending together. “Like what?”

  She took a deep breath, her eyes fixed on the horizon. “Once, I came across a pnet covered entirely by a sentient fungus. It had absorbed every life form on the pnet and was developing space travel to spread and infect other worlds.” She paused, her voice growing quieter. “To stop it, I found the rgest asteroid I could manage and hurled it at the pnet. Wiped it out completely.”

  I watched her, feeling the weight of her words settle between us. “You… destroyed an entire world?”

  She met my gaze. “Was that genocide? Maybe. But not every species can live in harmony. Some are just incompatible with others, they’d destroy everything else if given the chance.” Her voice softened. “Sometimes, you have to make hard choices.”

  Her words lifted a weight I hadn’t realized I was carrying. I leaned my head against her shoulder, and she rested her cheek on the top of my head. We sat in silence for a while, the quiet understanding between us filling the space as we gazed up at the stars.

  Then, something caught my eye—a flicker in the sky, like the stars were blinking out one by one. I straightened, squinting. “What is that?”

  Carol followed my gaze, her brows knitting as she noticed it too. Thousands of shapes, rge and clustered, had moved into orbit, blotting out entire patches of the sky.

  “It looks like a whole bunch of meteors,” Carol murmured, a hint of tension creeping into her voice. “But there’s no meteor shower scheduled, and none of them are… falling.”

  A chill ran down my spine as I kept watching the shapes overhead. Whatever was up there wasn’t natural.

  Just then, Natasha came running up to the roof, her steps urgent and uncharacteristically loud. “Lay! Carol! You both need to come inside—now.”

  I met Carol’s gaze, both of us sensing the tension radiating from Natasha. We wasted no time following her back down to the living room, where she pointed at the TV. On the screen was a familiar yet unexpected figure making a dramatic introduction.

  "Humans of Earth," the man on the screen announced. "I am Magneto, leader of the Brotherhood of Mutants."

  I felt a flicker of anger as he unched into a tirade about all the oppression mutants are under all over the world and how he won’t allow such outrageous injustices to continue. I gnced at Natasha, who shook her head slightly.

  “It’s not like that anymore, Lay,” she contradicted his words. “While you were gone, Akeno, Jean, and Ororo formed their own hero team. Those three have become really popur online—you know, because they're all “super hot” and have “cool super powers”. Mutant popurity has actually grown by a lot, and that’s on top of your own support for them!”

  I nodded, irritation simmering beneath the surface as Magneto continued his rant. “The world doesn’t owe you anything, Magneto,” I muttered, watching as he theatrically spread his arms like this was all some kind of performance to him.

  Then Magneto’s tone darkened. "You might have noticed some rge objects in the sky," he sneered, a disturbing glint in his eye. “With a single meteorite, your so-called ‘guardian angel’ managed to save this world, taking out an alien menace two years ago.” He spat out the words, his disdain for me seeping into every sylble. “Yes, meteors are powerful—and dangerous. Which is why I have surrounded the entire pnet with thousands of them!” He raised his arms in triumph. “Earlier today, Lay of the Fallen announced that our global popution would soon double. Mutants are already outnumbered! I will not allow us to become even more diluted! Lay, you have one hour to surrender to me, or I will destroy every major city on this pnet! Meet me in space if you dare…”

  And with that, the screen went dark.

  “What the fuck?” I muttered, staring at the bnk screen. The audacity—the sheer disregard for innocent lives—had me reeling. My mind was already calcuting how many meteors I might be able to stop if he released them. “If I use shadow clones and cosmic Susanoo… maybe even the Power Stone… I might be able to surround the pnet. But…” I trailed off, realizing the pn would exhaust everything I had.

  Carol and Natasha each pced a hand on my shoulder, their expressions resolute. Carol’s blue eyes met mine with fierce confidence. “I can handle him. Magneto’s not the first megalomaniac I’ve brought down.”

  I nodded, knowing that if anyone could take him head-on, it would be Carol. But something about this didn’t sit right. Magneto was strategic. This whole spectacle, the broadcast, the ultimatum—it felt too fshy.

  A knot of suspicion tightened in my chest. “It’s not just him, I’m sure of it,” I murmured. “He’s got some kind of backup pn. Otherwise, why would he risk calling me out? He has to know he can’t handle me whatever he tries.”

  Natasha’s eyes sharpened as she listened. “Then we go in ready for anything. He’s trying to bait you, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s hiding something bigger than what he showed on that broadcast.”

  I nodded, feeling my resolve harden. “Alright. we’ll go. If he wants a fight in space, let's give it to him,” I said, looking between Carol and Natasha. Both of them grinned at me.

  My phone blew up the second Magneto’s smug face disappeared from the screen. Calls, messages—at least ten people trying to reach me at once. Sighing, I swiped to answer Akeno first, and the panic in her voice hit me immediately.

  “Aunt Lay, Jean is missing! Ororo and I can’t find her anywhere! We think… we think Magneto kidnapped her!”

  “Shit!” I muttered, my mind racing. I kept my tone steady. “We’ll find her, Akeno, don’t worry. Hang tight, and stay safe.”

  I hung up, meeting Carol’s and Natasha’s concerned stares. “Phoenix has been taken. Magneto must’ve ambushed her—probably while she was heading to css or something.”

  Natasha’s eyes narrowed. “I’m surprised someone as powerful as Jean could be taken that easily.”

  “Normally, I would be too,” I replied, running a hand through my hair in frustration, “but she’s used to hearing the thoughts of everyone around her. With that helmet, Magneto could’ve walked right up to her. Hell, he might have injected her with something remotely. Jean’s got a lot of power, but when she isn’t channeling the Phoenix Force, she’s not invincible.”

  Before I could catch my breath, my phone buzzed again. It was Andrea.

  “Are you guys alright?” she asked, sounding both worried and ready for action. “What’s the pn?”

  I exhaled, ying it out quickly. “I’m going to send five shadow clones around the pnet with my cosmic Susanoo. It’s our best shot to contain all these damn meteors. I’ll need Jarvis to find the best positions for the clones.”

  “On it,” Andrea replied without missing a beat.

  A moment ter, Jarvis’s smooth voice came through, already calcuting. “The optimal points for pnetary coverage are as follows…”

  “Perfect,” I said, committing the locations to memory. Andrea kept rolling.

  “Do you want Tony and me to jump in?”

  “Yes, be ready,” I replied, gncing at Carol and Natasha. “I have a feeling Magneto’s got a backup pn. After protecting the pnet, I’ll be drained, so if he tries anything else, it’s on you guys to stop him.”

  The next call was just as expected, it was Fury, and he was livid. “You’ve got some nerve, putting me on hold, Lay!”

  “Well, Nick, the entire pnet’s on the line. I have to prioritize,” I snapped, filling him in on the pn—only for him to cut me off with bad news.

  “That bastard didn’t just grab Phoenix,” Fury growled. “We have reports that some of the strongest mutants on the pnet went missing this morning. All at the same damn time!”

  “Great,” I muttered.

  Natasha spoke up. “Looks like we’re dealing with possible mind control,” she noted, tension obvious in her voice. We all knew just how dangerous a mind-controlled Jean could be. She was a pnet killer…literally, that was her job.

  I grimaced, realizing that after creating the pnetary shield, I’d be tapped out. Facing Jean—or any of the other missing mutants—after would be very difficult.

  “Lay, you still have the Mind Stone, don’t you?” Natasha asked suddenly. Her unspoken pn was obvious, she wanted to use the stone in the event that Jean and the other mutants really were under mind control.

  “I do,” I admitted, “but I don’t trust anyone else to use it right. The only person who’s ever managed it correctly was…” I trailed off as a wild idea hit me. Reckless, insane even, but it might work.

  I grinned, meeting Natasha and Carol’s eyes. “I think we’re going to need to break someone out of Asgardian prison real quick.”

  Carol raised an eyebrow, and Natasha’s lips twitched in a knowing smirk. “Let me guess. The one person crazy enough to wield the Mind Stone to its fullest potential?”

  “Yep. Time to pay Loki a visit…”

  [I'm sure he won't try to stab you in the back…]

  I couldn’t argue with the system’s warning about Loki—he was risky, no doubt. But I had the perfect solution for keeping him in check: sicking his own mother on him. I knew for a fact that Loki still loved Frigga deeply, no matter how much he despised Odin. If anything, he probably loved her more than in canon, especially since she despised Odin right back.

  Before we left, I went to Frigga’s room to fill her in and get her on board. I found her there, sitting beside Vali, who was fast asleep in her bed. Vali had his own problems that would need dealing with after this, but for now, Loki was our priority.

  Frigga looked up at me as I approached. “What brings you here, Lay?” she asked.

  I took a breath, knowing this was kind of a bold pn. “I need your help, Frigga. I’m pnning to break Loki out of Asgardian prison…” I expined what was going on.

  She let out a deep sigh, clearly weighing the risks. “You’d be entrusting him with the Mind Stone,” she murmured, her voice ced with concern. But I could see the understanding in her eyes—she knew we were out of options since Magneto only gave us an hour before he was going to start dropping the asteroids in orbit and they became genuine meteors of pure destruction.

  “I know, it’s a huge risk,” I admitted, “but you know Loki. He’s too clever to get caught up in anyone else’s schemes. And if anyone can keep him from backstabbing us, it’s you.”

  Frigga rose from Vali’s bedside, her stance calm yet resolute. “Very well,” she said, a hint of that maternal fierceness in her eyes. “I shall accompany you and make sure that Loki doesn’t betray you… And if he tries to, well, sometimes a mother has to give their unruly child a proper spanking.”

  XXX