Cherik: The After Years
Chapter One: Pimp My Romance
Forge sat at his workbench as the mad beats of "Ice Cream Paint Job" by Dorrough pumped their way throughout the complex.
As Erik walked in, he looked up and said, "Yo dawg, I heard you like—"
"Shut the fuck up, Forge, you're not Xzibit."
"Sure done enough work on your Magnetomobile, though."
"You're just mad because you didn't get to be in none of those movies."
Forge shifted the topic away from his own insecurities and onto Erik's . "So… how's the legal battle going?"
Erik grimaced. "It's over. They didn't give me anything. Charles got the house… I mean, that was a given. That's why I had to move in with you. But they didn't even give me visitation rights to see our boy."
"Ah… that's surprising. I can't think of a reason why they'd rule that way."
"He only has custody of our child because he mindfucked the judge!"
"Yeah, sucks when your telepath buddy loses all sense of ethics, don't it?"
"I have to wear this sodding helmet twenty-four-seven because I'm afraid he'll mind control me into giving up on him. Even in the shower. My hair is… I'm too afraid to even take a look at it."
"Might be best if you did. Give up I mean. It's like… these things happen, you know? Things change."
"The world changes," replied Erik. "People only change if they choose to."
"And if only you could be more supportive of my choice to emulate a famous rap-mechanic-superstar maybe I would believe that. And still… even if you want to believe that, Charles made his choice. The best thing for you is the just get over it, because I can tell you right now that he has."
"Charles just doesn't know any better. I just have to show him…"
"Look, as much I love listening to your angst, I really have work to get done, okay? We've got tons of massive projects coming up, I've got a meeting with Hank and Tony tomorrow, and we really think we might be able to beat Reed this time."
"Right, right. I know how important this is to you. I need to go for a drive and clear my head anyway."
Erik started for the door, then turned back for a second, remembering something.
"Uh, by the way, I think the toaster is broken. Can you fix it?" Erik didn't tell Forge that the toaster was broken because he had gotten angry and thrown it at the refrigerator. He was on thin ice as it was, and knew he was very close to wearing out his welcome as Forge's temporary roommate.
"You bet I can," said Forge. "Never forget that I can fix anything. Anything."
Erik had decided to go talk to Charles personally. They hadn't really talked or seen each other apart from the court hearings for the past couple of months, and he knew that wasn't really conducive to the open, honest discussion he thought they needed.
He pulled the Magnetomobile up to the curb of the old house they had bought together. His grip tightened on the wheel, but he forced himself to reach, hand trembling, for the door handle. He got out of the car, and took a deep breath as he looked around, feeling a little bit embarrassed to have actually come out here. He could already tell what Charles' reaction would be, but he had to try.
He started walking hesitantly up to the porch, still looking around. He was hoping there were no neighbors or anything around to watch him make a fool of himself as he fumbled for the nerve to ring the door bell. He reached out, feeling like he was poking through jello. He breathed deeply again and jammed his finger into the button. The bell rang, and about a minute passed before the door opened. Charles had a bit of a shocked expression of clear displeasure.
"Erik," he said gravely. "I should have known when I couldn't sense who was behind the door."
"Charles," Erik pleaded. "We need to talk."
"Look, now isn't a good time," Charles said.
There was a bit of movement in the hallway behind Charles, and Erik looked over his shoulder to see what it was.
Erik stared at his son. He was wearing the costume, as always. He refused to take it off. It was modeled after Erik's own armor.
That's right, he thought. He takes most after me. He belongs with me.
"Daddy?"
"Hi, son." Erik could feel the tears begin to well up in his eyes.
"Onslaught, go to your room," said Charles, with a hint of harshness. Hesitantly, the boy disappeared.
Erik set his eyes back to Charles.
"You could at least let me come see him from time to time."
"You know what the court said."
"Fuck what the court said! You could change their minds. You didn't seem to have any problem screwing around in the minds of the entire American legislature so we could get married."
Charles pursed his lips and looked out the window, a clear sign he didn't want to talk about that subject anymore. Erik knew it was useless. It was just like he told Forge. Charles had manipulated the court into denying Erik visitation rights when they split up. It was just a way for him to get control and push Erik even further out of his life, but Erik wasn't going to let that happen.
"They still believe in us, Charles," Erik said. "I go online and read the fanfics every night, and I think… 'It really used to be like this'. And it can be like that again."
"Those yaoi fangirls don't know a damn thing. You know I've never liked that bullshit. You know that I'm apparently supposed to be a mouse? Shit, you'd think that you would be the mouse."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Erik growled.
"Never mind," Charles snapped back. "It's not just as easy as getting back together and expecting the hopes and dreams of fangirls to somehow be the glue that keeps us that way. There are so many reasons that our relationship wasn't working out anymore."
"Like what?"
"Like how horrible our sex life became in the end. Because you couldn't get it up anymore. Whatever happened to 'Shit, you know I can control the iron in people's blood? That's right, I don't even need no Viagra'. Huh, Erik? What happened to the arrogant, cocky bastard I used to know and love?"
"The world is making more sense Charles! I don't know how I can adapt! It used to be I could use my magnetism to do whatever I wanted! People would look at me and cry, 'fucking magnets, how do they work' because they didn't know a goddamn thing. But now I can hardly do anything! My magnetic fields aren't even blue anymore!"
"And see, this is exactly why I left you. You turned into such a pussy. I needed you to be powerful. I needed you to be driven. Remember when we first started out? What brought us together? It was our mutual goal to see the mutant cause furthered. I remember a time when I was the one that had to hold you back, prevent you from doing something you'd regret."
Charles looked down. "I guess I failed. You having nothing but regrets now, don't you?"
"Charles, please."
"No, Erik. You should just go. You're not even supposed to be here. And… it will cause problems if he finds out you've been visiting."
"Wait… what are you saying?"
Charles sighed. "Erik… I found someone else. I found someone who could bring the… electricity… to a relationship that you can't. I'll admit, he's not as magnetic as you once were, but he has the energy I need in a partner, and he's been doing pretty well for himself lately, now that he's realized how much potential he has."
Erik felt a surge of anger, fear, and most of all confusion. "What? But… who?"
Suddenly a loud, rust-rimmed red pick-up truck pulled into the driveway. Charles' eyes darted nervously to the side.
"Oh, shit… now I don't know how he'll react to this."
A green-clad figure got out the truck, pulling off a yellow lightning-bolt mask in the process. He took one look at Erik, then at Charles, and back to Erik, then burst out laughing.
"Oh shit! So you decided to show up after all! I thought you were too busy getting drunk, growing a beard, crying on your bed while watching news reports about how the mob is selling crack to children!"
"Wait… who… you're that Electro guy!" Erik tried to summon up some tough-guy attitude, not letting Electro see that his comment about how he spent most of his evenings was dead-on.
Electro cackled. "Whatever. I going to get myself a beer. You guys have fun chatting about old times or whatever."
Once he was out of earshot, Erik turned back on Charles. "You let that fucker come and live in our house?"
"He's got his own place, but he comes over here most days. Onslaught loves him."
"He's only using you for the beer and HD TV!"
"Fine by me. He's at least been emotionally supportive. More than you've been in the past few months."
"You… have you…"
"No, we haven't had sex, Erik. Really, we're just good friends right now. I'm waiting a bit to take it to the next step."
Erik was speechless. How could he let this happen? He had to figure out something…
"I know what you're thinking, Erik. I don't need my telepathy for that. And it's not going to happen. It's best if you just leave. I have to help Onslaught get ready. He's got a sleepover with Franklin Richards tonight."
Erik tried to get worked up, tried to think of something to shout… thought about throwing something, but Charles had long since magnet-proofed the house by making practically everything plastic.
That wouldn't have mattered, back in the day, Erik thought. When my powers just did not give a fuck about the laws of physics.
He simply sighed, and left. There were no more words. Charles was right. He'd lost the fire. He couldn't even get angry about this. All he could feel was despair.
He got back into his car, and started driving through the suburban streets, not really sure where he was going.
Without realizing it, he started pulling into the parking lot of the local Denny's. When he saw the sign, he snapped out of his funk. No. No way in hell was he going to let him sink so low as to drown his sorrows in Denny's. That shit was for vampire emo-kids. He was better than that.
Erik reached into his pocket and took out his phone. With great hesitation, he dialed a number. Even the shame of admitting he was not enough to stop him. He had to get Charles back. Even if it meant swallowing his pride. But he knew that he couldn't do it on his own. He would need some help. Only one person could fix his relationship with Charles.
The voice on the other end answered, "Hello."
"I… I need your help," Erik choked through the sobs.
"Erik? Erik what's up, man?"
"Please, Forge! Pimp my romance!"
CHAPTER ONE END