12907/Zap The World

Zap The World
Date of Scene:	28 September 2022
Location:	Genoshan Embassy
Synopsis:	Billy Kaplan learns of his origins, but he still hasn't learned the lesson that some questions are better left unasked.
Cast of Characters:	Billy Kaplan, America Chavez, Lorna Dane

---

Billy Kaplan has posed:
Once upon a time, there was a young man named Billy Kaplan. He was somewhat your average nerdy boy- interested in superheroes and their powers (he kept spreadsheets!), he was gay and hopelessly shy. He was bullied in school.

And then, one day, the hopelessly shy boy ended up almost electrocuting his bully to death, found out he was a wizard, and found himself involved with superheroes and even became part of a team, so things were actually kind of looking up for him!

So, of course, fate threw a wrench in the works in the shape of someone who /looked/ like him. A twin brother? It was a mystery- and wizards love unraveling mysteries!

Unfortunately, the spell he cast in order to unravel this particular mystery almost unraveled some part of reality or another. Really, it was all a blur... mostly due to the fact that he passed out.

And now the wizard boy is slowly coming back from unconsciousness after spending some pretty unremarkable time dreaming about absolutely nothing.

".... nnnngh" he says, his eyes still closed. He's eloquent like that. "... my head," He mutters, rubbing his temples as he slowly begins to sit up on... wherever it is they've put him. His eyes are still closed. Mostly because he gets the impression that light will make his headache worse. He might be right.

America Chavez has posed:
    America Chavez is a good person. She's regarded a hero among several worlds in -multiple- universes. That doesn't mean she's immune to fits of anger. "Finally coming back to the world of the living, Wiccan?" she asks, her tone more than a touch chiding. "Glad you didn't give yourself a stroke after you attempted to erase reality."

    She's resting against a wall not far from where the young man rests. Her initial outburst released she sighs and reaches up to pinch the bridge of her nose. "Seriously, Billy. What were you thinking?" she asks.

Lorna Dane has posed:
The 'where he was', was the Genoshan Embassy which had thankfully not been too many blocks from where he had attempted such an ill-fated spell. As for where he was put up it was on a rather soft bed. There were rooms here for those that needed to crash from a long work shift, impromptu visitors, or the like.

As for Lorna Dane, she was seated in a chair in the room going over a tablet reading things she needed to catch up on while waiting for that tell-tale groan of wakefullness. "There's a soda on the side table, and a water bottle," she offers simply. "Which ever might help."

Billy Kaplan has posed:
"I didn't... mean to erase reality," Billy answers America-Voice, frowning, his fingers rubbing the spot at the center of his brow where it hurts the most. Does his third eye have an ingrown eyelash? He frowns a little more at that thought- that's a silly thing to think. Maybe he isn't all the way awake yet.

Lorna-Voice offers him soda and water. By the feel of the thing under him, he must be on a bed. But getting soda and water means opening his eyes, and he's not ready for that yet. Maybe in just a little bit. "Thank you," he does add, politely. America-Voice had asked a question, which needs to be answered.

"I- it shouldn't have gone like that! I did my research, I was careful. It was a very /simple/ spell, just a simple yes/no answer to the question 'Is this man my brother?'" The young mage shakes his head and instantly regrets it from the throbbing that follows. "I don't know why it would go apesh--- crazy like that!"

America Chavez has posed:
    America blinks and then sighs. "Billy..." she says, with almost the reverence of a curse. Almost. "It probably didn't work because the answer to that question is more complicated than a simple yes or no answer can supply." She pushes off from the wall and grabs the water bottle, placing it at his hand so he can take it. "You could've asked me if you wanted. It's not like I haven't met versions of you both out..." she gestures. "There."

    She pauses. "But you saw a puzzle and instead of finding people who could maybe help... you decided it was a personal matter" she shakes her head solemnly. "And decided to go it alone."

    She looks over her shoulder at the mutant queen. "What do you know of Speed? Er... Tommy... Shepherd? He's Shepherd here, right?" she asks. Would he be something else, somewhere else?

Lorna Dane has posed:
Lorna Dane was listening the whole time. Listening, and paying attention, even if she allowed the two to talk and work things out. They apparently knew one another while Billy was still a new issue for her overall. The question from America earns her full attention though as she sits up again.

"Tommy Shepherd, yes. We'd suggested a DNA test to see if he was a direct relation since he's almost the spitting image of Pietro both physically and by mutant ability. He was against it. Pietro is fairly certain he didn't father a child by accident."

"... I've been unable to get any answer in regards to if my father may have or not," she adds, dragging it out with just a bit of annoyance. "Given I was a surprise as well I wouldn't be terribly ... surprised." Lightly she clears her throat regarding Billy.

"From what I know and what I saw with your attempted spell, it seems you and he are some sort of dimensional anomally. There were versions of all of us there that were slightly different. Yet you, and Tommy, were always the crux of those."

"So while it's still a guess on my part, I'm blaming Wanda. After all she's the one with reality warping powers." A little twitch of her lips comes at that irony.

Billy Kaplan has posed:
There. He has to open his eyes. He does so. And there is a groan that escapes his lips, but the pain isn't as bad as he'd expected. A little stab between the eyes.

"Yeah, Tommy was against doing DNA tests. Something about him not wanting anyone to have his DNA..." he glances over at America, and then at Lorna, "That's why I thought doing a spell would put him more at ease. I didn't do it alone, I asked Doctor Sims for guidance on how a spell would look like..."

He frowns again and glances at America, "You can't blame me for making the assumption that Yes/No Brother would be a simple question. I mean. What exactly do you know about us?"

Then he focuses on Lorna's answer, and he seems to stop dead in his mental tracks.

"Dimensional anomaly... but what does the Scarlet Witch have to do with me and with Tommy, and..." he looks around, eyebrows going up, "Where is he?"

The safe answer would probably be: eating somewhere.

America Chavez has posed:
    America frowns and looks between Lorna and Billy. "Alright..." she says. "Just... ugh... I can't be sure of any of the validity of this -here- but in another world. You and Tommy are brothers, born to another Wanda." She looks to Billy. "So... yes, in some cases you're brothers. But in others... it's possible you're not. That's probably why you got the 'answer' you got because you didn't quantify it."

    She runs a hand through her dark curly hair. "You asked the multiverse a question and got -every- answer... which... yeah that's going to break a few eggs and pop a few bubbles and some of those are going to be -this- egg and -this= bubble." She rolls her eyes. "Tommy is probably somewhere chowing down as he is wont to do. I don't get why he's so resistant to anything resembling cooperation... but" she shrugs. "Speedsters can be fickle in my experience."

Lorna Dane has posed:
"We assembled him into the family. Resistance is futile." Did Lorna just make a joke? Yes. A bad one? Yes. Does she care? She's a Queen. When America explains though she lifts a hand to simply point to the younger woman with a dip of her head in a nod of agreement.

"I assumed it may be related to Wanda because her powers tend to warp reality at times. That, and she was present in MANY of those 'other worlds' we glimpsed. Even if I didn't recognize her... That stupid mask of hers is apparently all over the place." Ah sigh. "Honestly. That's her legacy apparently."

Her expression softens a bit to a genuine smile as she regards Billy. "I know it's a lot to take in all around. You're welcome to stay here awhile if you need. It's safe, I assure you, and ... and I honestly could use some time to think on this myself. It seems we are connected via Wanda somehow, some way, after all."

Billy Kaplan has posed:
It is a lot to take in. Billy blinks slowly as the information trickles in.

"Holy... I have /another/ brother?" Of course, he has siblings. Two younger brothers. Twins. To whom he affectionally refers as Thing One and Thing Two. "I have a /twin/," because it's more than fraternal resemblance, the white-haired boy has his face. Or he has Tommy's face. Depends on who you ask. "From-"

And here the jigsaw puzzle starts getting weirder. "From another mother. Who is... The Scarlet Witch. But she hasn't had children in... /this/ reality." Okay, it's super weird talking about other selves and other realities, but this is his life, now.

Oh, and he's on a bed in the Embassy, right next to /The Queen/, and the several layers of Overwhelm that would normally fall on him sort of cancel out for the moment, due to the bizarrerie of it all, leaving him solely whelmed for the moment.

But this probably won't last.

"So Tommy and I are twins... born from Wanda Maximoff... from somewhere else? Some/when/ else?" Oh god, time travel, he hopes it's not time travel, "But we were born to different mothers. So we each have /two/ sets of mothers and---"

Record scratch. Slow turn. Billy glances from America to Lorna and back again.

"Um. Who's my, er, our dad?"

America Chavez has posed:
    America sighs. "Billy, if you think it's weird right now you haven't even scratched the surface of what I face on a regular basis" she says with a sad grin. "In most cases? Vision." She holds up her hands. "I don't ask. I don't tell. I just smile and nod." She shrugs. "But it's not so much that you and he have different families so much that your... essence? Your soul? The -core- of who you are--stretched across the multiverse in variations on a theme--are entiwined. As are all relations connected to her."

    She looks over her shoulder at the Genoshan Queen and shrugs. "I don't know that telling her here would make much difference. It's not entirely her. It's a version of her in another world. And in my experience, she can be sort of volatile at times."

    She rubs the back of her neck as if remembering something unpleasant. "But yes, you're brothers in the most imporatant of ways. I could take you both to a world where you were raised by her, happy, together, just a big family. I can also take you to a world that was torn apart by her grief at the prospect of losing you." She frowns. "But he'd--Tommy--would have to agree to a few... caveats before I even think of taking him somewhere. Especially, as he is now."

Lorna Dane has posed:
Lorna Dane rises from her chair, pausing to take the tablet with her. She can only shrug a bit at the mention of Wanda being volatile at times. "I would recommend speaking with Pietro first if that's the case. The two feed off of one another at times, it seems. Either she calms him, or he her."

"I do apologize but I should take care of some things. Work is never done," she adds with a wry grin before striding out the door.

Billy Kaplan has posed:
"O-of course, your Highness, thank you for the bed-" Billy stammers. It occurs to him that he needs to call his mother /stat/. His phone battery is dead, so goodness knows how worried she must be about him. The national guard might be getting called right at this moment.

But then again, how is he going to tell her that he is at the embassy, as a guest of the crown?

Holy hell. How is he going to tell her that he has a /brother/, and that their co-parents are-

"Wait, Vision? But-" the young man raises a hand, and then he frowns. And then he raises his eyebrows. "But wait, he doesn't ha- but he's a- but..."

He just stares at the wall for a few seconds, and his mind decides that maybe it just needs to take a time-out and let his brain defrag. If he's Vision's son, that's a safe course to take, right?

"Oh god yes, we need to talk to Tommy," he nods to America, "He... probably should hear this from me. Unless you think he'd take it better from you. I'm... going to take a nap, my head still aches. But..." he smirks a little, "You know everything. Do you mind phoning my mom and tell her my phone died and I'll be back tonight and not to worry?"

He exhales, "Oh man. How am I even going to tell her /half/ of this? She still doesn't know I can do magic." Billy lays back down on the bed, a wrist over his eyes.

"... /Vision?/ /Really?/"