Author's Note: Here is a multi-canon fic story I came up with a while ago. Canons included are: Avengers Assemble; Batman and Robin; Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe; Chronicles of Riddick; Harry Potter; Labyrinth; Maleficent and X-Men First Class. (Rated M for mature themes - and the bonus chapter) Enjoy!
"Did you really think that would work? Genocide and encouraging perpetual inbreeding?" the brunet man in the scarlet metal helmet and matching cape drawled disdainfully.
"Disregarding that for a moment, I can understand splitting your soul in theory; it is an effective way to ensure potential immortality, however, since the practise involves creating insanity along with turning yourself into a snake-faced monster that no one could ever respect or revere, only fear, you were doomed to fail," added the black haired, green eyed man in black and emerald, with a cape of the latter, and a horned gold helmet.
"You can hardly talk," drawled the somewhat husky voice of the tall, thin woman in a white dress and matching furs, her double-edged glass wand tight in hand. "An alien invasion?" she remarked disdainfully. "Wanton chaos, it was bound to do nothing but incite them to rise against you."
"You were defeated by children," the man in the emerald retorted in turn.
"At least I ruled for a century before that happened."
"Never underestimate the plucky adolescent," came the drawl from the man in grey leggings, white poet shirt, and matching black leather boots, gloves, vest, and jerkin, his platinum blonde hair in a fluffy halo around his head. "They are remarkably determined to do what they see is right, no matter what the personal cost."
"Defeated by a girl," the snake-faced man sniggered.
"And you were defeated by a boy. Seventeen years old, not even graduated, and you with quadruple the knowledge he had," he came back with easily. "Why am I even here?" he asked, looking to the ceiling in askance, well aware they were being watched, even if no one else was.
"The same reason we all are," the man in the scarlet helmet remarked. "Because we're villains."
"I was only playing the role I was given," he replied. "To play the villain that stole the baby, to force her to face the worst parts of her nature, and negotiate the innumerable challenges put before her to win him back."
"And seducing her?" gold helmet asked insightfully. "Or shall I say attempting to. Was that part of your role too? That moment on the hill, in the tunnel, the Ball Room, not to mention your final confrontation. Was all that part of your role too?"
"I couldn't resist."
"She was too young," scarlet helmet admonished. "Still a girl, an adolescent. Even if she was tempted by you, you should have refrained. Waited until she was older."
"There was no guarantee I would have known her when she was older."
"Then that was the risk you should have taken," he replied, voice like steel. A flex of his power and the chain of the deplorable man's amulet tightened around his throat.
"I never would have bedded her," he protested in pants. The amulet loosened. "I saw in the Ball Room she was too innocent, untouched. She was too old to turn, but too young to keep. However, if she had already…" He trailed off and found his airways choked again.
"Even if another had done the unacceptable, that does not give you the right to do so as well," he stated, his voice the cold metal of a blade against your throat. "How many girls have you done this to?" Silence was his answer. The chain tightened further. "How many?" he asked again, his voice lowered with his fury.
"None," he gasped, and was released again. "The only girl I ever attempted to seduce, to win her, to keep her, was Sarah. No other caught my attention, only her. I may have spun a Ball Room fantasy to a few of the other girls, to distract them, but I never joined them in it. She was the only one I ever did that with, because I could not resist her. I had to try, even though I was fairly certain I would fail."
He disappeared, and the remaining people in the room looked at his now empty seat. "I guess that answers that," the man in scarlet remarked.
"What?" asked the man who had heretofore remained silent. A bald man in tight, black clothes, wearing black goggles, with a deep rumble for a voice.
"We were brought here by an outside force and will be removed by it also. But only once we have done a specific thing. Whether that is to learn a lesson or speak a truth I cannot say for certain. Although, my guess would be the former. After all, who better than another villain to point out the holes in a nefarious plan?"
"Then perhaps we ought to get started," a red haired woman in a green leather outfit and vines twined in her hair remarked, her matching red eyebrows quirked.
"And what about you my dear, what is your story?" the man in scarlet asked the woman in green.
"I was working in a remote location, provided with funding by a company, while I did my best to save various forms of vegetation on the planet. I discovered the other scientist within the lab was performing experimentation. Human experimentation. When I threatened to expose him, he pushed me into a shelving unit of chemicals, the combination of which should have killed me. I emerged from the earth reborn, as something toxic myself. I killed him and determined to get revenge upon those that had funded his ghastly research."
"But had they?" the man in emerald asked.
"No," she answered softly, her voice lacking the confidence it had contained previously.
"You lost perspective," the man in emerald spoke perceptively, "became enthralled with the power you wielded, over life and death, over men, and forgot you were there for justice over what had happened to you."
"I am Mother Nature," she repeated, listening back to the words she had believed so adamantly. "Adam and Evil," she said softly to herself. She had sought to save the earth and all the vegetation upon it, and yet she had been willing to freeze everything, kill all but her own creations. "What have I done?" she breathed. "What have I become?" she asked forlorn, shaking with tears she was unable to release.
"Hold still," the man in emerald commanded softly, kneeling in front of her, his hands cupping her face.
"I'm toxic to humans," she warned quickly.
"I'm not human," he assured. "Hold still," he repeated, and concentrated upon channelling his magic into her. He sat back on his heels and produced a mirror for her to look in. "Welcome back," he murmured, smiling as she gazed in awe at her changed image.
Her fingers went to her lips, feeling their human texture, their lack of toxicity. "Thank you," she cried and launched herself onto him in a hug. She had never thought she would ever be non-toxic again.
The moment she released the shocked and somewhat bemused man she disappeared. He returned to his seat.
"Can you do that to anyone? Take away their differences?" the man in scarlet asked, unsure as to whether the man in emerald might be a threat to him, and his powers.
"Only to those changed, not those that are born different. Your gifts are safe," he stated with a smirk, well aware of what the other man was concerned about.
"If we could resist the male posturing?" the woman in white furs asked, expression full of great disdain.
Both rolled their eyes. The sooner she left this room, the better. "You do realise the moment you outlawed Christmas you were doomed to fail," the man in emerald remarked.
"Why on earth did you outlaw Christmas?" a woman with black horns and speckled brown wings asked. "Leaving them something to celebrate gives them a measure of satisfaction and makes them less likely to revolt against you."
"And what did you give them to celebrate?" the woman in white furs asked.
"Well, I didn't stop them from celebrating whatever they chose. They were simply not allowed to leave our lands. Which," she continued before anyone could retort, "was something they had never done before regardless." She glared when the man in emerald opened his mouth. "Shall we move onto someone else?" He opened his mouth once again. "Unlike many in this room, I was never revolted against, and I defeated my enemy. We shall discuss someone else."
The man in emerald hid a smile, however, turned his attention to the others around the circle, waiting to see who might volunteer. None were forthcoming. "So who will be next for FVRG?"
"And what pray tell is that?" the man in scarlet asked.
"Forced Villain Redemption Group," he replied with a smirk.
"This isn't the AA," the man in black goggles rumbled.
"Well, it was forced rather than voluntary, so it seemed apt," he remarked, smirk still in effect. "Alcoholics Anonymous," he explained. "Generally, one is court ordered to attend."
All but the man in scarlet shook their head, exasperated. "That was quite good. And I think I might have an idea of who might be behind it."
"I know a meddlesome old fool who might," snake-face remarked, "however, I had thought the capability was beyond him. And that he had died."
"So did you," the men in black and emerald said in unison, the former in exasperation, the latter snide. It was obvious the man in black was considering if he could make it stick if he tried again here. If he could get around the potential immortality angle. Worth considering.
"You have a point."
"For that matter, so did you," the man in emerald continued, turning his attention to the woman in white furs, who gained colour in her pale complexion. "Are you embarrassed?"
"No," she hissed. Snake-face sniggered. "At least I was killed by a large, magical lion, rather than a child." He shut up quickly.
"I believe it's your turn Jadis," the man in emerald remarked with a smirk.
"Absolutely not."
"It is the perfect time," the man in scarlet agreed. "You are already the topic of conversation. Who wishes to start?"
"She might be too old to remember all the mistakes she made," the man in emerald remarked.
"I will not rise to such bait."
"Perhaps it would be easier to speak," the woman with horns spoke.
"I see no need."
"You will not get out of this room if you do not."
"I can outwait my captors, I am an immortal."
The man in emerald straightened. "I am an immortal. Yours is magic. I am a God. You are a mere witch," he continued, his disdain clear.
"I am not a 'mere' anything," she retorted hotly.
"And yet you were defeated by a beast."
"And what were you defeated by?"
"My brother. The God, of Thunder, that wields the mighty hammer. Thor, you may have heard of him," he ranted with the bite of sibling rivalry in his voice.
"I was sure there was something in there about a beast," the woman with horns remarked.
"We are not speaking of me, we are speaking of Jadis."
"If you wish me to speak, then you must answer," she spoke smugly.
"One of my brothers…friends, turns into a large, green rage monster. He may have had something to do with my defeat. Speak," he commanded. He was satisfied to detect the slight hint of discomfort in her eyes. The day he could not unnerve someone like Jadis was the day he gave up villainy for good.
"For a hundred years I ruled Narnia as I saw fit. If that was as a frozen wasteland then so be it."
"And getting rid of Christmas?" the man in black rumbled.
"I saw no reason to allow them merriment." They gaped. "They feared me, and so long as they did not break my rules they were allowed their lives. What more could they want?"
The men in emerald and scarlet face-palmed, while even snake-face gaped at her. While he had done his best to keep his people down-trodden, and get rid of the unsavoury and rebellious, even he would have allowed them to continue celebrating occasions such as birthdays, weddings and Christmas – the larger of which would probably have been monitored. "It was a wonder it took them a hundred years to rebel," he muttered, nods of agreement coming from around the circle.
"They were weaklings," she dismissed.
"And yet they beat your army," the man in scarlet pointed out. Underestimating one's opponent never ended well.
"Pride comes before a fall," the man in emerald spoke.
She scoffed. "And how many times have you fallen?"
"Many, and yet I survived and tried again. You on the other hand…"
"Died," the man in black finished with his deep rumble of a voice. He was beginning to wonder how any of them had survived so long, from what he had seen of them so far, they were a bunch of unperceptive idiots. He sighed. This was getting them nowhere, and of everyone in this room, she was the one he wanted gone soonest. "What made you take over Narnia?" he asked.
"I wanted it," she replied easily.
The man in emerald caught on. "But why there? You had the means to cast your eye almost anywhere you wished."
"They were…"
"Yes?" the man in scarlet prompted. Perhaps, they might be able to manage this after all.
"Prosperous."
"Try again Jadis," the man in emerald ordered with a roll of his eyes. He had already mentioned she had had numerous options, many of which would have been prosperous. She could even have chosen somewhere with the landscape she wanted, rather than having to create it herself.
"Happy," she spoke, voice frigid.
"Closer but not quite there," the woman with horns remarked.
"Content," she spat. "I wanted to rip that contentment from them, especially that infuriating lion. How dare they be content!" she ranted.
"Perhaps because they were?" the man in black rumbled, not in the least intimidated by her anger. Then again, it took far worse than her to intimidate him.
"What right had they to be content?! They were nothing! Animals, with no power, nor magic. Except for their ability to speak they would have nothing worth taking notice of."
"And yet you noticed, and wished to rule them. Why?" the man in scarlet prompted.
"Because if I could not be content then neither could they!" she cried, shocked at her words. She had not been emotional for some time. She could not even remember when.
"And why could you not be content?" the man in emerald asked. "You are Jadis the White Witch, you have power and magic, and the ability to take over a Kingdom if you wished. Why could you not be content?"
"I do not know," she replied, refusing to look at any of them.
"When was the last time you felt it?"
"Not since I was a child," she replied in a soft voice. She could barely remember that time, but she did remember that much.
"When in particular?" the man in emerald asked. If they could pin that down, they might be able to get to uncover the truth of her motivation.
"I do not know," she answered slower.
"Did you have parents?" snake-face asked.
"Of course you dolt," she spat.
"Were you with them when you last felt content?" he continued, unperturbed. While it was true that everyone had biological parents, he was a prime example that having parents was not a guarantee of childhood.
"Yes. No. I cannot remember." The man in emerald rose from his seat. "Stay away from me."
"I was only going to help."
"I do not need your help."
"Not even in retrieving your memories?"
"I-"
"Yes, Jadis?" he asked gently. He may not particularly like her, however he would not wish the frustration of memory loss on anyone.
She opened and closed her mouth several times. "Much of my childhood is hazy," she spoke slowly, hating that she needed admit even that.
"Would you like me to recover them for you?" he offered.
"No."
"Then how about I show the last time you were content?" he counteroffered.
"That would be acceptable," she responded. She did not want him performing any magic upon her, however, revealing that event would not require any of his magic touching her.
The group watched as a young, and obviously happy Jadis along with a man that was clearly her Father appeared in the centre of their circle. Young Jadis clutched the same wand Jadis owned in both her hands, while her father held the opposite end in a single hand.
"You can do it," he encouraged.
With extreme concentration on her face, young Jadis sent a stream of energy from the end of the wand, and a flower blossomed from the ground.
"Well done!" her Father exclaimed, his pride evident in his voice and expression.
"Couldn't you teach her something useful?" a disdainful female voice asked a moment before a woman, undoubtedly her Mother appeared within the circle.
"Her powers come from nature," he replied with patience.
"Ice and stone are from nature," she retorted acidly.
"This makes her happy."
"Happiness is for the weak. Like you," she declared before she held out her hand, a spear of ice solidifying in the air and into the chest of the man.
"No!" young Jadis cried, rushing to his side.
"My daughter will not be weak," she declared before she strode over to the young girl and pulled her sobbing form away from her Father's body. The woman placed her hand over the girl's heart. "From this day forth you will feel not happiness, nor contentment, neither sorrow nor regret. Your heart will be as ice," she declared, energy crackling over her hand and into her daughter's chest.
She removed her hand and the young girl held the same cold expression on her face Jadis had begun the meeting with.
The images faded.
"Break it," Jadis commanded.
"Are you-" the man in emerald began.
"Break it!" she cried, her shock and disgust clear.
Loki's hands wove through the air as he sent his magic into Jadis, seeking the foreign magic that dwelt within her and removing it. His hands stilled and life filled Jadis' expression.
"I will not be my mother's daughter," she declared fervently. "I have some amends to make," she stated a moment before she disappeared.
"Good," the man in goggles rumbled. The others turned to him. "She was annoying," he said unabashedly with a shrug. His companions laughed. "Who's next?" he rumbled, turning his head in snake-face's direction.
"What about you Tom?" Loki asked.
"That is not my name!" he hissed.
"You do realise that if you use the letters of your birth name as an anagram, you're still using it?" Loki questioned. "Renouncing it would be using something completely unrelated to it."
"Why would you use a name that simply rearranges the letters of a name you despise?" the man in crimson asked. "Could it be that you don't despise it, or the man for whom you were named after?"
"How could you think to contest my feeling for my father? I killed him, and his parents, and made a Horcrux from it."
"But did you kill him before or after you created your first Horcrux?" the man in goggles queried.
Snake-face's head tilted as he considered. "After."
"So insanity had taken hold, meaning ideas that you would have never considered before that point suddenly seemed more feasible," he continued.
"Therefore, we can't trust your thoughts or feelings from that time," Loki remarked.
"Nor can we trust them now," the man in crimson reasoned.
"You talk too much," Maleficent spoke rolling her eyes. She raised her hand and green energy shot from her fingertips to enclose Snake-face. He glared, but was unable to do anything else. "Loki, do it," she ordered.
"Much easier," he answered before he held his hands over the enraged Wizard. When he lowered them moments later, snake-face had been replaced by a handsome young man with dark hair and dark eyes. "A marked improvement," he murmured as he returned to his seat.
"Why on earth would you choose to look like you did, rather than how you do now?" the man in crimson asked flabbergasted.
"I didn't know that that was how I would appear," Tom retorted rolling his eyes. "It was a rare, dark magic ritual. It wasn't as if the results were well documented."
"Would you have done it if you had known the result?" the man in goggles asked.
"No," he replied flatly. "While the benefit of immortality was substantial, the side effects of insanity and a truly horrific visage were too great."
"Why did you do it?"
"I thought I would remain as I am now until such time as my existence ended. Charisma will get you so far, but charisma and a pretty face will get you much further," he remarked, sweeping a hand beneath his face for emphasis.
"You seem charming enough not to need eternal youth," Maleficent commented.
He wrinkled his nose. "I wished to make vast changes, not only to the society I lived in, but to the perceptions that they held. I was fairly certain that it would take many years, and all my persuasiveness to accomplish, which meant I needed to retain my good looks for that extra push."
"Didn't work out too well," the man in goggles chimed in.
"No. From the moment I made my first Horcrux, my priorities began to shift. From making changes that would improve my society, to vengeance for perceived slights, and eventually to moulding the world into my deranged view of what it should be. You were right," Tom added easily to Loki. "It was doomed to fail. However, I am glad. Yes, they needed to change, but that was by far the wrong direction."
"What changes?"
"Working on the inequality within society, breaching the gap between Pureblood thinking, and the rest of society. Helping them to understand each other's viewpoints better. Teaching those children with a non-magical background about Wizarding traditions, and teaching children from a magical background about the non-magical world. If they understand each other's world, then they will find it easier to have common ground, and thus mend the rift. Purebloods won't consider muggleborns as tainting wizarding society, and muggleborns will feel far more welcomed and prepared, so they will be more inclined to stay. New blood, and innovation, is always needed. Stagnation is the surest way for societies to die." He paused, realising that he had been giving a speech to people who really didn't care.
"What else?" Loki prompted.
"I considered creating a pre-school, where magical children could have that teaching, before they begin their Hogwarts learning. It would be far less overwhelming to them than it is currently. Encouraging innovations and diversity in forms of work. At the moment the options are Ministry, Healers, Lordship, Teaching, Menial or Trade. So much talent is being wasted because there is a severe lack of options. Identifying threats to magical children, providing support for those individuals that are not affluent, improving the quality of life for the non-magical – I never did like the term 'squib' – and non-wizarding Races, researching why the birth rate is low generally, improving relations between England and the other Magical societies in the world," he listed.
"Lots of ideas. Why didn't you implement them?"
"I had started. Started a following of individuals from influential families – far easier to create change when you have some of the ruling families behind you – when I began to doubt how well I would be able to do so, especially within a short time span. Then, once I had no worry for the longer view, my thoughts on what changes to implement changed, and accordingly, so did my followers. Though honestly they didn't take much changing."
"So self-doubt led you to take a dark path, where you were ultimately defeated. Any regrets on your plans failing?"
"No. Well, apart from them moulding an eleven-year-old boy into a weapon to kill me," he added with more than a little annoyance, tinged with anger and a touch of umbrage.
"I think we need to look more into this Tom," the man in crimson remarked.
"Do you love him Tom?" Loki asked.
"No," he stated firmly. "Thankfully even in the depths insanity such sexual perversions did not occur. No sex whatsoever actually."
"No wonder you were so cranky," the man in crimson commented with a grin.
Tom stuck his tongue out, reminding them that he truly had returned to the age he had been before he transformed himself – a teenager. "Even in my insane state, I recognised that he should have been filled with as much fury, rage, anger, bitterness and resentment I had been at his age. It irked me that he was happy, given the parallels in our childhoods. He lost his parents at a young age, he was left with magic-hating relatives, he was bullied, mistreated, joined the magical world and was told he was highly prized – when no one bothered to check if he was being treated well, or prevented him from returning to his abominable situation – then was treated badly when he had a gift that others do not like. At least I was never forced to battle a psychopath repeatedly, I simply became one," he spoke with a tight smile.
"You pity him."
"He pitied me. That galled my alter ego, especially since he was beginning to amass power." He sighed. "If I could go back in time and change only one event, I would prevent myself from killing James and Lily Potter."
"Not stop yourself from creating the Horcruxes?"
He shook his head. "Logically, I know that by doing that, I would likely prevent their deaths. But regrets are not about logic, are they? If I could prevent that boy one loss, even at great risk to myself, I would do it in a heartbeat."
"Hmm," the man in goggles rumbled, as the teen remained sat there.
"Seems you still have more to discuss," the man in crimson remarked.
"What more is there? I regret making the Horcruxes, I regret all the atrocities I committed when I was in that state – and probably will for the rest of my life – I wish I'd never heard of the bloody ritual – it would have saved many people from anguish and pain, especially a young boy I see so much of myself in – and-" he broke off abruptly.
"And?" all four of his companions prompted.
He sighed heavily. "I was so obsessed with following a different path to Dumbledore – with his so superior attitude – that I made the worst decision I could have done." His words had barely left his mouth before he disappeared.
"Good luck to him," the man in goggles rumbled.
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"He may have admitted to a lot of his mistakes and issues, but he still has to work past them. And convince those he wronged that he truly means it."
"That can be the most difficult task of all," Loki murmured. "Well Riddick, shall we turn our attention to you?"
He got a flat look. "It is the perfect time," the man in Scarlet pointed out.
"I'm as redeemed as I'm going to get," he stated flatly.
"You have never killed a child, have you?" the woman with horns asked.
"No," he spoke, voice as flat.
"Have you ever killed a woman?" the man in scarlet asked.
"When I needed to."
"Not for the fun of it?" Loki retorted.
"I've only killed for the fun of it once, and it still served a purpose," he added, in his deep rumble.
"Why him?" she asked.
"He'd killed a couple of kids to bait a trap for me, bastard merc," he added in a mutter.
Horrified noises from all three of his companions. "Did you make it painful?" the man in scarlet asked.
"Yes," he spoke with satisfaction.
"Good," he replied in a similar tone.
"Shall I fix your eyes?" Loki offered.
"They're useful," he retorted.
"In the dark, yes, however, they prove a weakness otherwise. An adversary need only remove your goggles and you would be debilitated." A hesitation. "I can make it so that you can tap into your night-vision when you need to, rather than get rid of it entirely."
"Do it."
Loki rose, and tapped into his magic before laying his hands over Riddick's eyes. "Remove the goggles," he urged as he lifted his hands. Riddick did so, revealing ordinary eyes. "One moment," he spoke, and turned off the lights. Riddick's eyes gained back their silver sheen. "Perfect," he spoke with pride. Riddick's eyes shifted back to normal and the Asgardian turned the lights back on.
"Will you rule the Necromongers?" she asked solemnly.
"Nah," he retorted, tugging his goggles around his neck. "Bunch of hypocritical cowards," he retorted.
"You would give up your rightful throne?" Loki gaped.
"I got it 'cause I killed the guy trying to kill me, and he killed Kyra in the process," he added with regret. "I handled things all wrong with that kid," he muttered. He let out a breath. "Should have taken her with me."
"Not checked on her?" the man in Scarlet asked.
He shook his head. "Wouldn't have made a difference, she'd've still felt abandoned."
"Why didn't you?" she asked.
"It was safer for her to stay with the holy man, and figured since he'd lost his kids, he'd look after her like his own."
"His own devout children?" the man in scarlet asked gently.
"Didn't work out so well," he sighed. "She skipped out on him, and got herself landed in a slam."
"She turned herself into you," Loki pointed out.
His lips curved at the corners. "She tried, a damn good try," he spoke with a smile.
She met his gaze squarely. "Despite your mistakes with her, she made the choice to take on an opponent she knew she couldn't defeat, to save you," she spoke voice firm. "Are you going to honour her sacrifice?"
"Honour it?" he retorted.
"You saved her when you first met," the man in Scarlet stated. "She would have known you would be compelled to save not only Imam's family, but others as well."
"I cut off the head of the beast, but if I just skip out, another will take its place," he sighed. "It will only be a matter of time before they carry on the mantle and Ziza dies." He sighed again. "I'm going to have to take out the true believers, and disband the rest."
The woman with horns lifted her hand, and a yellow glow surrounded Riddick. "When you have completed your work, you will be able to find Furya, should you still wish to." As the glow faded, he inclined his head and disappeared. She turned to her attention to her two companions. "Gentlemen?"
"After you," the man in scarlet spoke to Loki.
"Oh no, Magneto should go first."
"You are both as bad as each other," she retorted.
"I am nothing like him!" they both declared hotly.
"You both allow your negative emotions to rule you," she retorted with a smirk.
"I do not!" they declared.
Magneto scoffed. "Your jealousy of your brother drove you to attempt genocide," he spoke, voice dripping with disdain.
"And you were so driven by your thirst for revenge that you turned yourself into the very monster you were trying to stop," he spoke scathingly.
"At least I never tried to slaughter my people."
"No, you just abandoned them without transportation, surrounded by enemies."
A green glow covered their mouths, and they turned to glare at her. "Much too alike," she sighed. "Loki, you are too different from Thor to ever be held to the same expectations, you should embrace your own strengths and weaknesses." She turned her attention to Magneto. "Magneto, Erik-" she paused for a moment before meeting his eyes squarely, "Charles' consciousness was tied with Shaw's until the moment the link was severed." She saw him pale as realisation dawned, and released them both from their magic.
Magneto swallowed. "Loki, ask yourself this, were there times in your childhood when your parents let you stay in their bed, after a nightmare perhaps; or when they stayed by your side when you were ill; or they cancelled something important because you needed them?"
"All three," he answered and blew out a breath. "They loved me as their own." He met the other man's gaze. "We all make bad decisions, and do things we regret, that doesn't mean that those moments are all that we are. Talk to him," he urged. "You were at your best in his company."
"Take your shot at redemption, we only have a limited amount of time with loving parents, don't waste what you have left of yours."
Both men inclined heads to each other and disappeared.
"Thank you my dear," a kindly male voice spoke from above.
She inclined her head. "I am already as redeemed as I will get. I enjoyed helping others to do the same."