""h.e.l.lo son..."" Hearing these words from the feeble looking woman, old long forgotten memories resurface in Ethens mind. Having his earliest childhood memories resurrect, memories of much simpler times, one single tear starts running down ethens right eye. Looking at this beautiful but feeble looking creature, he not only recognizes her familiar but nearly forgotten face, her familiar posture, demeanor and smell Ethen instantly reverts back to being a child.Disbelief apparent in his voice he asks. ""Mom?""
Nodding the woman can not contain her emotions, as the rushes Ethen, enveloping him in her warm brace. ""My poor good looking son.""
While Ethen is his "mother" have an intimate moment, Natasha notices a somewhat sinister glint in the man"s eyes, who still stands unmoving like a mountain in front of the window.
The moment she notices the glint, it is already concealed behind a friendly smile. ""Son, why don"t you introduce us to your friends here.""
Hearing the man rever to her as Ethens friend, Wanda blushes a little bit, before trying to cover her embarra.s.sment. Ever since becoming the man"s hostage, she had experienced one emotional rollercoaster ride after another. From deeply hating him to slowly falling for him, every emotion humans are capable of, Wanda had experienced it at least once.
Slowly resurfacing from his "mothers" embrace, Ethen looks at the man. Aside from the somewhat stiff facial expression currently showing on the man"s face, he couldn"t be any more familiar to Ethen, as he is -Superman-.
""Dad..."" Ethen says looking at Superman, moving back to his two female companions, taking one of each woman"s hands in his own, he introduces them to his "parents". ""Diana, Clark...""
A bit harsh Superman tells him.""It is Kal-El now boy!""
Putting one hand on her husband"s shoulder, Diana calms him by saying. ""Relax, dear... Relax. Don"t let your temper get the best of you.""
Seeing Kal calm visibly down, Ethen continues looking a little bit embarra.s.sed. ""... Wanda, Natasha meet my parents Princess Diana of Themyscira and Kal from the house of El... Mom, dad meet two of my girlfriends Natasha Romanov and Wanda Maximov.""
Nodding, both woman bow, while simultaneously saying. ""Nice to meet you..."" Looking into each other"s eyes, both Natasha, as well as Wanda, see a hint of concealed panic, instantly thinking the same. They were meeting his parents!
Seeing both women somewhat panicking, Diana instinctively feels smug, since her "son" was able to catch two beauties and apparently even more. Being borne in ancient Greece, she is not entirely against being an excellent man having multiple lovers and who would be more excellent than her own son from another universe.
Having noticed the implication of Ethen revering to his companions as "two of his girlfriends" as well as the two woman"s reaction, Kal asks. ""Two of your girlfriend how many do you currently have a boy?""
Remembering Tonya and Carol back in the temple, Ethen tells his "father" a bit embarra.s.s, embarra.s.s, since he remembers his father"s absolute devotion to his mother. ""Four.""
Hearing the answer, a disappointed and disapproving sneer appears on Supermans" face, before that one says. ""You really disappoint me,... SON!""
""Dear relax!..."" Diana warns Kal, asking. ""... What is your problem anyway?!""
""As my blood, he is an El. We El are absolut monogamists..."" Kal explains, his sneer intensifying. ""... We are no womanizers! My blood will not be like...""
""Smack""
Mid-sentence, Kal stops talking, as Diana slaps his face. ""f.u.c.k your blood! He also has mine! Stop talking rubbish!""
Seeing the initially feeble woman suddenly smack her husband, Natasha leans over to Ethen whispering into his ear. ""Your mother really is scary when enraged.""
Smirking, Ethen pulls Natasha flat to his side, telling her. ""You have seen noting jet. She once stabbed and killed Darkside...""
-----
While Ethen, Wanda, and Natasha meet a version of Superman and Wonder Woman, the others back in the temple also known as "Kiln of the First Flame" are in no way less idle. After having given Sharon one of the empty quarters, Tonya has started working on the colonies power source, a huge next generation of Arc Reactor. Inspired by the temples power source, she creates the "Infinite Arc Reactor" a theoretically infinite power source.
Thanks to the dwarves help she make huge progress every hour, despite constant interference from a certain mouse.
""Are you really sure that this reactor will not open up portals to h.e.l.l?..."" Pikapool asks, sitting on top to the gla.s.s dome of the reactor. ""... Maybe you should include an early warning system to inform us of daemon invasions... Oh, oh, oh! Maybe we should contact Blaskovich"s descendant...""
""Please just shut up, oh great Pikapool..."" Pleads Sindri, with him. ""... This reactor dies not to interfere with other realms. It is totally safe!""
Dissatisfied, Pikapool complains. ""Said the pa.s.sengers of the t.i.tanic and we all know how it went for them!""
Before anybody can rebuke the mouse, a sudden spike in voltage exits the reactor and a lightning strike hits Pikapool, throwing him into the air and into a wall. Seeing him fall to the ground, Tonya rushes to his side, finding him unconscious and transformed back into a skull, the collar scorching hot.
""What the...?"" Tonya asks, lifting the skull up from the floor.
Climbing out from under the reactor, Sindri comments after seeing the collar. ""No need to panic. The collar is currently recalibrating. Being hit by so much energy might even widen the collars energy reserves.""
Walking around the reactor, Brokk only comments his brother"s words with. ""Humpf... Lucky b.a.s.t.a.r.d...""
Looking from the Skull to the dwarves, Tonya asks. ""So we simply ignore the fact, that he is unconscious?""
Smirking, Brokk asks her. ""Do you want to hear him continue talking about daemon invasions?""
Understanding the dwarf, it dawns on her, embarra.s.ses Tony says. ""No...""
-----
Seeing his fathers slightly beaten and embarra.s.sed figure disappear from the room, Diana, Ethen, Natasha, and Wanda remain behind.
""Humpf... He still sometimes needs a good beating..."" Diana comments, before her attention once again focuses on Ethen and his girlfriends. ""... So... Does anybody want some ice cream?""
A short time later, they all sit around a table, eating ice cream. ""So... Diana... Your husband Kal doesn"t look like to be happy to have a son. Care to explain?"" Asks Natasha, remembering the sinister look in the man"s face.
That said, all eyes are on the feeble looking woman, including Ethen. Having met the Presence, Ethen still tries to wrap his head around the fact, that this woman feels exactly like his mother even up to his point, that for a moment he was convinced that she was. He might be calling her mother, deep inside, he already knew, what the Presence told him was true. -They are truly gone.-
""Some old wounds never heal..."" Confesses Diana, aware that this man was not her son in the truest sense of the word. ""... He once had a wife and a child before me... Luise Lane...""
Following that revelation, Diana tells everybody about the current ara of Absolute Peace, a war with another parallel Universe and her failed attempts of getting pregnant and several miscarriages.
""... I guess now you understand, why I call you my son, despite not having given birth to you..."" That said, Diana leaves the trio behind to enter the adjoining kitchen to was the now empty bowls of ice cream.
Having felt the pain in Diana"s voice, Ethen decides to go after her.
Entering the kitchen, he finds her cleaning, while tears run down her face.
""Everything okay?"" He asks her despite knowing the answer.
""Sniff... It"s nothing, everything is okay, my boy..."" Diana tells him while wiping away her tears and turning around to face him.
""... Look how big and tall you are..."" She says finding Ethen towering over herself, before turning serious. ""... So four girlfriend?""
""Well yes, currently..."" Ethen trues to explain himself, but unable to find the right words to tell Diana.
Seeing his fl.u.s.tered and embarra.s.s face she asks him. ""Do you plan on getting one of them pregnant?...""
Unable to stop blood from rushing into his ears, Ethen all so slightly nods.
""... I know of your Kryptonian DNA. It is incompatible with mostly human because human DNA is never strong enough..."" Tells him, Diana, fishing a pill bottle, containing with roughly ten pills, out of a cupboard over the sink handing it to him explaining. ""I partly disapprove of your womanizing ways, just as Kal does, but I know that we love who we love. These are 5-U-93-R, they are primarily used to give humans superhuman durability, dexterity and strength, but they also make human DNA compatible with kryptonian DNA...""