And a Fine Hello to You, Too. (Alterna-Son)

[aqua_gambit]

Remi deNamor escaped out of Pier 4 as soon as he could feasibly do so without risking the ire of a pregnant redhead. Some days, he got overwhelmed by how different his life was going from what he planned when he left his home reality. It had been ostensibly to learn how worlds that were better off than his governed so he could bring that experience home. While he had enjoyed the adventures of being an Exile, he had never expected to be discarded into some reality with no mission and no way home.

The bronzed Atlantean went to the end of the pier and sat down. He watched waves lap against the pillars. The steady wet slap lulled him into introspection. His blue eyes stared out at nothing.

So anything that showed up near him would be a complete surprise.

Comments

[sub_mariner]

Not five minutes ago, Derric deRemi had been fighting for his life as the Blood Force had attacked him, trying to find his father.

Well, a version of his father.

A version of his father who hadn't been the father that Derric himself had. They'd fought them off, though, Derric, his dad, his mother, his sisters, and his friends in the Avengers. Not a complete defeat, but they'd held them off enough for his mother and his half-sister to create a portal that would send Derric to warn the version of his father who was actually in danger.

This was why, out of the blue, a somewhat familiar looking young man would come flying out of a whirlpool that was suddenly created in the water ahead of Remi, the wings on the young man's ankles flapping as he shot a bolt of electricity down at the whirlpool, effectively closing it.

Then, noticing Remi just sitting there, as though he were somehow expecting him, Derric whooped. "Dad!"

[aqua_gambit]

Remi got jolted out of his reverie. He blinked. "Is the baby earl-..."

His question died when he spotted a familiar face above the water. It was a good thing he was sitting on a pier. There was wood behind him to brace against. It saved him from falling into the water.

"Derric?"

[sub_mariner]

He flew towards Remi, his shimmery teal, black, and white wetsuit glinting in the sunlight as he reached his Alterna-Dad.

"Yeah, sorry, I know. I didn't call, I didn't write." He landed on the pier next to Remi. "But, you know, there's not quite any tech for that yet."

[aqua_gambit]

Remi got to his feet, or more correctly, floated to the appropriate level to have his feet an inch or two above the pier. He scratched his head for a moment.

"Not I'm not glad to see you, but... how and why? I thought you went back to your home time-and-space." He looked over the suit. "Nice suit though. Very sting ray-esque."

[sub_mariner]

"Thanks," Derric grinned. "You and Mom gave it to me for my birthday. But that's not why I'm here," he added. "There's a little issue going on that we need to talk about. Ever hear of the Blood Force?"

[aqua_gambit]

It took Remi a moment to realize 'Mom' did not mean Alexa in this case. Alternate futures did things like give you unexpected kids. He settled down to have his feet on the pier.

He stared a little at Derric. "Well, there was one from my reality. They are the Panther's goon squad. Why?"

[sub_mariner]

"They're looking for you. Reality-hopping, I guess? I don't know where they were before they came to my reality but..." Derric shrugged. "They're probably on their way here as we speak."

[aqua_gambit]

"They're-wait, what? Last I knew they were stuck behind Panther's impenetrable shield. And I've had the scientists here looking for a way to get from this reality to mine, but it's been... a whole lot of nothing." Remi rubbed his forefinger and thumb along his eyebrows as he tried to make sense of it. Even eyebrow massage did not make this any clearer.

"You're sure they're after me? And how did you get here? Did you knock out that redhead back at Xavier's again?"

[sub_mariner]

"Some unstable way they've got of reality-hopping. I don't know much about it, but Mom managed to use her magic to, you know, manipulate it a bit, shunt me to you. Which, hey, surprise." Pause. "I didn't bring anyone with me, so there aren't any more kid surprises. Also, not sure if it's you-you that they want, but you're the only you I know that's not the you that raised me, so I figured that you should know that they're after you."

[aqua_gambit]

"It is a surprise," he admitted with a soft grunt. He was trying to process a goon squad from his home hunting him. It didn't seem likely to him with all the smart people being stumped here about getting him to his own reality.

"I'd ask why me, but I'm sure they didn't tell you why. Unless Blood Witch got to you." Remi eyed Derric's neck to make sure there were no vampire fang marks.

[sub_mariner]

Derric tilted his head over so that Remi could see. No bite marks.

There was a hickey, though.

"They, uh, interrupted my date with Mircea Guthrie."

[aqua_gambit]

Remi quirked an eyebrow at the hickey. "Nothing dangerous I see. Though a 'date,' huh? Hopefully you're better at those than I am."

Satisfied that his not-son was not in the thrall of a psychic vampire, Remi held out a hand. "Come on inside Pier 4 until your... wait, do you have a way to get back?"

[sub_mariner]

"As long as Sam Guthrie doesn't find out that I'm seeing his granddaughter, I think the dating thing is gonna be fine." He glanced down at Remi's hand and back up at Remi. "I'm not...gonna hold your hand, Dad. And, uh...you know? We didn't actually...think that far ahead."

[stormy_skrull]

Mary strolled into the prep room where Remi and a new guy were waiting.

"Hey, Remi," she said. "Who's your friend?"

[clobberin_kid]

Jacob lumbered in behind Mary, giving the new guy a friendly wave. There was something... familiar about him. "What's up, bossman?"

[realstarpower]

Ryan, for his part, paused. He looked at Remi, then he looked at Derric. He stared at Derric for a long moment before looking at Jacob, and thinking about their father.

Then he shrugged.

"Alexa's baby popped out full-grown, clearly."

[soulstealingstark]

"You're on crack, Ryan. Because I'm still fat over here." Alexa shuffled into the room, fiddling with something on her cell phone, not looking up.

[aqua_gambit]

"Alexa's still pregnant," Remi said a bit more diplomatically. He gestured to his sort of son. "And this is not hers. Everyone, this is Derric deRemi, my son from a future alternate timeline."

The emphasis was added so Alexa would catch it. He really did not want to see if Liza's reaction was a standard redhead reaction to alternate reality future children.

"He ended up here with some dire news."

[stormy_skrull]

"Your playboy ways coming back to haunt you, Remi?" Mary asked.

She became slightly more serious. "What's the haps, future-man?"

[sub_mariner]

Derric stared at Alexa for a moment - and the not-him-baby - before turning back to the rest of the group.

"Not really? My dad's a different dad than this dad, even though they're genetically all kinds of similar." Pause. "Multiverses are a pain. Anyway, yeah, there's this group of baddies called the Blood Pack, and for whatever reason, they're after Alterna-Dad here. They attacked my world first, but we're expecting them to find their way here sooner or later. I kind of came here to, you know, warn you people. Because you're kind of Alterna-Dad's only hope. No pressure."

[clobberin_kid]

Oh lord, he did not want to be on deck when the redhead exploded. Jacob casually shifted himself further away from Alexa as he listened to future-kid's explanation. Oh goody. Alternate universe assassins.

"You have info on who's in that group and what they're capable of?"

[realstarpower]

Ryan created a shimmering field of energy around Derric. "Just in case Alexa's hormones get all explodey," Ryan explained. "Pretty sure we want him to go home all nice and safe and, you know, alive." He turned to Remi, then, and said, "They're after you so...you should know something about them, right?"

[soulstealingstark]

Alexa smacked Ryan on the arm, hard. "My hormones aren't going to get all explodey. I don't have that kind of superpower. Geez, all of you and this mistaken idea that all redheads have powers that let us maul things or explode and destroy the world. That's a myth. It's a damn stereotype!"

She punched Ryan again for good measure.

"So they're after Remi? Why is everyone after Remi?" She paused and then looked at Derric. "Rhetorical question, really. I'm not sure I even want to know the details of your existence, Derric, because having a sort of stepson that is taller than I am is more than I want to process right now, but I'm glad you're here if for nothing else than to warn us. So, do we have a plan? Damn I need to sit down..."

[aqua_gambit]

Remi quirked an eyebrow but let Ryan get his redhead opinion adjustment from Alexa. The only time his girlfriend exploded around Remi were times best not reported in tabloids anymore. The Atlantean cleared his throat and used his invisible force fields to create a chair for Alexa. He carefully and gently bumped the back of her legs with the invisible construct to let her know it was there.

"Blood Force comes from my reality, they are Panther's best enforcers. There's five of them: a psychic vampire who can move around in daylight," he was so not going to mention she was a redhead at this moment, "two in suits of power armor, a bruiser with claws and a healing factor, and a man with control over sand. All of them will kill without a second thought.

"I don't know how they've managed to get out of my reality when your scientists can't find a way into it. But whatever means they have is not stable according to Derric."

[sub_mariner]

"At least, that's what the science-types back home said," Derric added. "Back home, my mom's the Sorceress Supreme and Dad's, well, king of Atlantis. I'm not exactly from science-y stock myself."