"It's happening again!" Ellie sobbed, clutching against Emma Frost who was currently cradling the near-hysterical teenage girl in her arms, trying to keep her from hurting herself "Just like Genosha!"
Professor Xavier knelt down next to her, his face scrunched in concern "Emma, does she mean..?"
Emma Frost nodded somberly "This happened before, just before Cassandra Nova's attack, Ellie kept having visions of her own death. As you probably remember, it wasn't an exageration. What do you know about this-" She looked around, only to find that the target of her ire had suddenly vanished from the crowd of frightened students and dinner guests. "...Charles, where did Mr Magnusson run off to?"
"I'd like to know that as well, Professor" Steve Rogers added, kneeling down next to them "I haven't known Ginnungagap for very long, but it sounded like he recognized whatever that voice was talking about. I just turned around for a second to check on Sharon and when I turned back, he had already disappeared. Who's this Fury he was so concerned about?"
"The only Fury I know is Nick Fury, and he's a mean sunovabitch, and ah wouldn' put it past him to make anyone nervous, even a reality warping creep like Fatboy, but that..." Logan shook his head "I know fear, and that wuz real fear. He wasn't worried, he wuz SCARED. And this guy could melt Apocalypse with a mean look."
Xavier sighed "I'm afraid I can provide you with little comfort, as soon as he heard whatever message that was intended to convey, he grabbed my son and Miss Walters and disappeared. I know little more than the rest of you."
Emma paused for a moment, cradling the sobbing Ellie "So, what... he just ran off? He didn't say anything?"
Xavier looked thoughtful "He said... he said if he doesn't come back in 5 minutes, we need to contact Brian Braddock."
Logan blinked "Who th' hell is-"
Steve cut him off "Captain Britain? What does he have to do with this?"
Xavier stood back up, turning towards the concerned and fearful faces of his guests "I'm afraid we're about to find out, one way or another." His voice rose "X-Men, we're on high alert! Prepare for the worst!" He turned towards Storm "Ororo, prepare the mansion defences!"
...
"Johan, would you PLEASE tell me what the hell is going on?!" Jen stomped at the "floor" of the empty pocket dimension I had dragged her and Legion into. It wasn't much...or anything really, just an empty void. However, more importantly, it was outside regular time, meaning that I could breathe for a few seconds without worrying about The Fury tearing my head off my shoulders.
After all, he could only cross into dimensions he knew about.
I hope.
I took a deep breath, preparing to answer the best I could, but Legion beat me to it "Ah, yeah, hi, David Haller, better known as Legion here? I'd also like some information on what the hell is going on?" He nods towards Jen "Hi there, David Haller, nice to meet you."
Jen blinks "Ah, nice to meet you too? You're Professor Xaviers son, right? Why did Johan grab you?"
"Kind of hoping for an answer to that myself actually."
I clear my throat, drawing back their attention "Okay, sorry for the grab-n-run there, but we got sort of a situation on our hand here, and I panicked..."
Jen looks confused "What sort of situation?"
"If it's what I think it is, it's a situation that has already wiped out one universe, and came damn close to do it to this one once already." Though to be fair, The Fury isn't the one who did that, it was Jaspers fault, and he's not involved in this.
I think.
And desperatly hope.
"Ah, again, don't mean to interrupt" David cuts in "but aren't you a reality warper, same as me?"
"Yes, except I wasn't completely bonkers until last week, but basically."
"So what's the problem"?
"The PROBLEM has already killed ONE reality warper, and I'd rather not be next in line!" I take a deep breath "Also, he killed all the superheroes on an entire world, there's also that. It's kind of a problem. So I'm sorry, but I panicked a little and grabbed the closest thing to an equal I had in the hopes that I and everyone I care about might not be incinerated by a soulless murderbot!"
We all fall silent, Jen and David staring at me. I turn away, not wanting to meet their gaze. "It's bad, okay? It's really bad. It's not even supposed to exist anymore, I don't know how it could even be here, but it IS! It's the only warning that could possibly warrant using the fucking TIME GEM to send, unless Nick Fury has managed to weaponize his cheap cigars and occasional scowl!"
I'm probably being unfair to Sgt. Fury , but I feel like being in mortal terror gives me a few liberties.
However, if I wasn't already near the end of my rope with fear, Jen's next words sure as hell brings me right to it.
"The Fury."
"...what."
"That's it's name isnt it? The Fury?" She speaks so assuredly, like she's just reading proven facts from a book. But that's impossible, because aside from Braddock and Captain UK, no one even remembers this fucking thing!
"Jen... how do you know that name?"
She looks uncertain for a moment "I'm... I'm not sure exactly. Remember about a month ago, just before the Stark trial started? I had this... dream." She shakes her head "It's mostly a blur now, I barely remember any of it. But I remember that it was about something important. And that you were in it. And something called The Fury."
I have a really bad feeling about this "...anything else?"
She's about to shake her head, but stops herself "...I think Steve was in it. And someone else. It was an odd name, I remember that. J something... Jester? Yes, that's it, Jester!" Just as I'm about to sigh in relief, she corrects herself "No, wait, JASPER! That's it, it was Jaspers!"
...well, shit.
Fuck it, one problem at a time.
I close my eyes, taking another deep breath, dragging my fingers through my hair. Okay, let's do this. "Alright folks, time for an infodump. David, it's very nice to meet you, especially with you not being crazy anymore. Sorry for dragging you off like this, but you might literally be the only other person who can save the world right now. Jen, equally sorry for dragging you along, and I'm afraid you won't be able to provide much backup, if we're about to face anything close to what I think we are. Let me start from the beginning; Once upon a time, once upon a world, a cartoonishly unqualified man was elected Prime Minister of Britain..."