[Westview. 2800 Ellis Avenue. The 1970s.]
The world had burst into color. The walls were covered in wood paneling. The carpet was a vibrant, aggressive orange.
Wanda Maximoff waddled into the living room, her belly swollen to the size of a beach ball. She was wearing a floral maternity dress that screamed "disco mother."
"Oh, my!" Wanda gasped, clutching her back. "I feel as big as a house! And I was a size two just this morning!"
[Laughter]
Vision, wearing a turtleneck and plaid trousers, rushed over. "Wanda, darling! You seem to have expanded exponentially since breakfast. Are you certain it isn't just the gas from the fondue?"
"It's not gas, Vis!" Wanda yelled, a contraction hitting her. "It's the baby!"
[Audience Awws]
The doorbell rang.
"I'll get it!" Vision ran to the door.
Standing there was Sebastian Michaelis.
He had adapted to the era perfectly. His tailcoat was now a crushing velvet burgundy tuxedo. His hair was slightly longer, shaggy in a fashionable way, and he wore a ruffled shirt that would have made a pirate jealous.
"Greetings, cats and kittens," Sebastian said, stepping inside. "I heard a rumor that the stork was making a delivery."
He gestured to the actual live stork that was currently wandering around the living room, pecking at the shag carpet.
[Laughter]
"Sebastian!" Vision cried. "Thank goodness! The doctor is gone! He went to Bermuda! We need help!"
"Fear not," Sebastian removed his velvet jacket, rolling up his ruffled sleeves. "I have delivered many things in my time. Though usually, it is bad news. Let us see if I can deliver a bundle of joy."
[The Delivery]
The living room became a delivery ward. Wanda lay on the floor, breathing heavily.
"Okay, breathe!" Vision panicked, phasing his head through the wall by accident. "Hee-hoo! Hee-hoo!"
"Focus, Mr. Vision," Sebastian ordered, placing a cool towel on Wanda's forehead. "Boil some water. It is the cliché thing to do."
"Right! Water!" Vision ran to the kitchen.
Sebastian looked at Wanda. The sitcom veneer was cracking. The pain was real. But beneath the pain, Sebastian felt the magic.
It was surging. The air tasted of ozone and creation.
"Push, Mrs. Maximoff," Sebastian whispered, his eyes narrowing. "Create."
Wanda screamed. The house shook. The windows rattled. The vacuum cleaner turned on by itself.
And then... a cry.
A baby's cry.
Sebastian caught the child in a towel. A boy.
"It's a boy!" Vision yelled, running back in with a kettle.
"Wait," Sebastian looked at Wanda. "There is another."
"Another?!" Wanda gasped.
A second surge of magic. A second scream.
A second baby.
Twins.
[The Miracle]
Ten minutes later, the house was quiet. Wanda lay on the couch, holding two bundles in blue blankets.
"Billy and Tommy," Wanda whispered, looking at them with fierce love.
Sebastian stood by the fireplace, wiping his hands on a towel. He stared at the children.
He extended his senses. He tasted their essence.
Usually, humans were born with souls recycled from the great cosmic flow. But these children... they tasted like static. Like raw power given form.
They weren't born. They were forged.
She made them, Sebastian realized, his mind reeling. She didn't just summon them. She created them from nothing. Ex nihilo.
If she could create a soul... if she could knit together life from pure desire and magic...
Then resurrection wasn't just possible. It was child's play for her.
"They're beautiful," Vision said, putting his arm around Wanda. "We have a family."
"Yes," Sebastian said, his voice hollow with realization. "A family created from... love."
[The Front Porch. Later.]
Sebastian stepped outside to smoke (a candy cigarette, to fit the rating).
Vision followed him out. The Synthezoid looked troubled. The laugh track was gone.
"Sebastian," Vision said quietly. "Something is wrong."
"Is it the diapers?" Sebastian asked, keeping the act up. "I hear they are quite challenging."
"No," Vision looked at the street. "The doctor. He left for Bermuda. But I saw him... he was just standing by the wall. Glitching. Like a broken record."
Vision looked at Sebastian. His synthetic eyes were full of fear.
"And you. You don't fit here. You're... different. You always catch me when I fall. You always have the right tool. You're too perfect."
Sebastian dropped the candy cigarette. He looked at Vision.
"Perfection is a requirement of the job, Sir."
"What job?" Vision asked. "Who are you really?"
Sebastian leaned against the porch railing. He decided to give the robot a nudge.
"I am a servant, Vision. Just like you are a husband. We play our parts. But sometimes... the stage is too small for the actors."
He pointed to the twins inside the window.
"Those children. They are real. But the world outside?"
Sebastian tapped the wood of the porch.
"It is painted cardboard. And sooner or later, the rain is going to come."
Vision stared at him. The seed of doubt was planted.
"I have to go to work," Vision said robotically, the script taking over again. "I have to check the computational forms."
"Of course," Sebastian bowed. "Have a groovy day."
Vision walked away, but his steps were heavy. He was waking up.
Sebastian watched him go.
He looked back at the house. Wanda was singing a lullaby to the twins.
She can do it, Sebastian thought. She can bring Tony back. I just need to make her want to expand the cast.
Suddenly, the radio on the porch table crackled.
"...Wanda? Can you hear me? This is Agent Woo..."
The signal was cut off by a pop song. The Monkees. Daydream Believer.
Sebastian smiled.
"Time to wake up, sleeping beauty."
[End of Chapter 53]
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