AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Chapter 7! This one was kinda tricky to write. Enjoy! Review please, and thank you.
There was a long, long moment of silence. Tony's fingers went limp, dropping several Cheetos onto the floor. Sam chuckled nervously. "Is this guy nuts?" Sam asked. "He's crazy right? Cause, otherwise, this means that I'm crazy. And I'm an Avenger. I deal with crazy all the time."
"Still talking here!" Merlin griped, annoyed at the interruption. He just wanted to get it all out at once. "The energy readings you people picked up came from me, but they also came, more originally, from the earth. The power of the earth flows through me. It's magic."
Tony scoffed. "Magic doesn't exist, Merlin."
Merlin snorted. "Then what do you call what I did back in Britain? What about Miss Maximoff? What are her powers classified as?"
"Manipulation of energy. Simple."
"Magic is energy, you idiot."
Clint smirked. "Ooohh, Tony just got called an idiot. And he totally deserved it. Then again, he usually does."
Sam smiled. "So you say you lived in the time of King Arthur. How come you aren't an old man? In pretty much every story ever, Merlin is a really old guy with a white beard."
"Yes, well," Merlin grinned, turning slightly red. "The stories all seem to focus on that. Probably Gauis's fault. And I was an old man. But only once or twice."
Clint frowned. "That makes pretty much zero sense."
"No, it does," Wanda disagreed, speaking for the first time. "I can alter the fabric of space. I manipulate gravity and the mind, what people think they see. Those are my specialty. He could alter his appearance to others in the same way.* Him…" Wanda nervously pointed to Merlin. "I can sense his power. He is very strong."
Vision nodded as well. "I can sense his power as well," he said, studying Merlin carefully. "It connects him to everything… or connects everything to him. He draws his power from the earth itself, just as he said."
"Exactly," Merlin said, glad that someone understood, even if just a small bit. "My power comes from the core of the earth. I have the ability to harness it. Use it. Direct it to my will."
Tony raised an eyebrow. "Right. Anyone who could harness that much power would spontaneously combust."
"Except me," Merlin shrugged. "My very being is created from that power. I was destined to use it."
"Okay!" Tony yelled. "This is getting way too weird for me! I need time to think. And I need a drink. Anybody want to come with?"
Sam and Clint raised a hand. The three of them climbed to their feet and exited the room. Wanda, looking relieved, followed after. Bruce looked thoughtful, but followed as well. He needed some time to think things through. Decide if it were possible.
The only ones that remained were Steve, Vision and Natasha. Steve looked thoughtful. Natasha looked curious. Vision looked like Vision; impassive, but not disbelieving.
Merlin looked disappointedly at the remaining Avengers. "Do any even you even vaguely believe me?" he asked.
Vision raised tilted his head. "I don't disbelieve you," he said thoughtfully. "I see that you have great power, but I'm not sure if I believe that you were born in the Middle Ages."
Natasha and Steve nodded. Steve was a bit more willing to believe the story, though. After all, he was from the 1940's.
Merlin sighed. "That's better than nothing, I suppose. Is there anything that I could do to prove it to you three? You seem to be the most open-minded. Stark will be hardest to convince."
Steve and Natasha chuckled and Vision smiled. Then the atmosphere in the room became somber. "I don't think you're lying to us," Steve said. "I want to believe you. But this story is just so unthinkable. Does anybody have any ideas?"
"Can you show us some of your magic?" Natasha asked curiously.
Merlin nodded. "Yes." He closed his eyes for a second. When he opened them, they were burning gold. A hovering ball of white-hot, golden light appeared in the center of the room, flickering like fire. The three Avengers stared.
But Merlin frowned. Creating the light had been more difficult than usual, and it was draining his power like he'd never felt before. After a few seconds, the light blinked and died. A bead of sweat dripped down Merlin's temple. Merlin's hands felt hot. None of the others in the room noticed.
"What else are you willing to show us?" Steve asked, trying to blink away the effects of the glowing light.
Merlin took another breath and let it out. A bead of multi-colored light appeared and morphed, shifting into a tiny green and yellow parakeet. The parakeet twittered and fluttered its wings. Natasha ran a finger down the creature's back. Definitely real.
A ball of water coalesced, hovering above Merlin's head. He was panting a bit now. Why was such simple magic so difficult? A sphere of fire joined the ball of water. Glowing images appeared in the air, dancing through the room. Dragons, fairies, griffins.
Steve was staring open-mouthed. Natasha was smiling faintly. Vision seemed to be analyzing the phenomena, but also seemed to be enjoying it. "This is definitely helping your case," Natasha said.
Merlin face grew slightly paler. A tiny bolt of lightning zipped back and forth between Merlin's hand restraints. And then, a sudden feeling, like black oil being dumped down his throat.
There was a sound like a clap of thunder, and the lights went out, the fire disappeared, and the ball of water splashed down onto the floor, showering everyone with droplets. The parakeet screeched loudly, and flapped its wings, flying into a corner of the room and landing on the floor.
Vision was on Merlin in an instant, holding his arms to the chairs. But there was no need. Merlin was panting hard, pale, looking like he was about to throw up. His eyes were their normal tone of dark blue.
"What happened? Are you all right?" Steve asked warily, half out of his chair. Merlin swallowed hard, trying to get rid of the oily, dark feeling.
"I… I don't know," Merlin gasped. "My magic seems to be meeting some sort of resistance. And I felt something…." Merlin glanced at Steve, staring at him hard. "Something bad is coming," he said. "You need to get ready for a battle."
Merlin was back in his cell. His hands were free once again. There were red marks on his wrists were the cuffs had rubbed against him. That feeling of blackness… where had that come from? And why were those strange feelings coming so much more frequently?
Merlin sat in the center of the vibranium cuboid that was his current home. He closed his eyes, and pressed his magic outward. It was blocked almost immediately. He could feel it fizzling against the walls.
The walls.
The walls! Merlin's eyes popped back open. He stared around the room. Vibranium. Pure and shining. Merlin thought back to when Captain America's shield had broken through his force field. Captain America's shield was made from vibranium.
Vibranium blocked magic. Or at least it dulled it. This was a new development. He had sort of been depending on being able to escape whenever he wanted. But if he needed to get away, he could always just wait until he was being moved from one place to another.
Merlin had only ever encountered magic-blocking metal once or twice in his life. It hadn't been as pure as this vibranium cube. His powers had overcome the resistance quickly. But his prison was completely constructed from it. He could feel his magic pressing against the walls.
Merlin closed his eyes again, sending his magic to look for a way out. He found it rather easily. There were tiny vents in the corners of the vibranium cube. Merlin sent his magic squeezing through the holes.
Given enough time, Merlin could search a large area with his magic. He was looking for anything that would give him a hint about where those strange feelings had come from. Merlin breathed deep. This could take a while.
Steve glanced around at his companions. Tony was drinking. Bruce was reading. Sam and Wanda were teaching Vision how to play Monopoly. Natasha and Clint were playing with Merlin's magic parakeet. They had named the bird Kiki.
"Hey guys," Steve called. Everyone looked up. Steve sighed and got right to his point. "Tony, you, Sam and Clint were all sort of jerks back in the interrogation room. Wanda and Bruce, you could have been slightly more polite."
There was a long silence. "Okaaaay," Tony said, sipping his drink. "How were we being jerks?"
Steve frowned. "You completely discounted Marc's... Merlin's story before he even got a chance to tell it."
"He said he was born in the Middle Ages," Tony said exasperatedly. "How can he expect anyone to believe that?"
Sam raised a hand, looking embarrassed. "Steve does have a point. He was born in the 1940's," he said. "Vision is an android. Wanda has freaky powers. No offense." Sam glanced at Wanda, who shrugged, smiling. "You guys have fought aliens and gods. We deal with crazy every day."
Sam looked to Steve. "Yes, I see that I was a jerk. I'll tell Merlin—man, it's weird saying that—that I'm sorry. But, no offense to him either, I'm still not sure if I believe him."
Clint nodded respectfully toward Sam. "Well said."
Wanda swallowed hard. "He scares me," she said quietly, cheeks burning red. "The way he crushed my power… it was terrifying."
Vision laid a hand on Wanda's shoulder.
Bruce shrugged apologetically. "I didn't mean to be rude," Bruce said. "And I think that there are reasons to believe his story. The myths never agree on what exactly happened to Merlin. And I've found pictures of paintings from the right era. And this is strange, but I even found this."
Bruce showed everyone a picture on a laptop. It was a painting titled King Arthur and his Court. First and foremost, the king, blond haired and tall, was wearing armor and a crown. A few knights wearing armor and long red cloaks were standing near him. And standing just behind the king, was a tall, thin man, with black hair, prominent ears and cheekbones, and bright blue eyes that seemed to be alive.
It was Marc Emmy. Or Merlin, if what he had told them was true.
"Cool," Sam grinned. "So that guy down there might really be…."
Steve nodded. "Merlin. And he gave me a warning. We need the rest of his story."
*I know Merlin actually turns old, but Wanda and the Avengers don't know that, so whateves.
Also, not that much vibranium is available to the Avengers, but, creativity of the author and all that jazz.