It was the Euroforce team, stopping in to pick up a bunch of take-out for their joint rooms. Only three of them were present, all in human forms: the big guy, Colossus; Sunny, not looking particularly stand-out in civvies with all the aliens around, and a slender, dark-haired Caucasian young man in a very swashbucklerish garb, although he had no swords on him here.

Draufganger, the twenty-some daredevil teleporting imp-Transformer of the Euroforce, part of the German delegation.

Actual name, Kurt Wagner.

“Dynamo!” Peter Rasputin greeted me cheerfully, shaking my hand and naturally turning a lot of heads, which I ignored. “You come to this place for comfort food too, eh?” he asked in a voice that wasn’t at all low.

“I know the owner,” I replied, tossing my head that way knowingly.

“Ah, let me introduce to you Kurt, our Draufganger, and Sunstone, who everyone just calls Sunny.” Mane of golden hair like that, preference for white and gold, couldn’t imagine why.

I shook their hands calmly, in a friendly manner, my Ace Dupe lifting an eyebrow at me as she glanced at the young man with the unique eyes behind me.

“A pleasure to meet you all. This is Remy LeBeau, a professional thief, cardsharp, con artist, charmer, and all-around scoundrel. And,” I tilted my head at Kurt, “the genetic scanners here say he’s your half-brother, Drauf.”

There was a moment of dumbfounded amazement before Kurt choked out, “What?” his own rascal’s smile escaping him as his eyes went to Remy’s in shock.

“Is this true?” Peter asked in pure Russian delight, completely unfazed by the abrupt news. “Kurt, you told us you were a foundling! Is this not wonderful news?!”

“Ach, I-I don’t...” He took a deep breath, stepping out of the line as he did so, and putting his hand to his head. “Forgive me, Dynamo, and... Remy? This is a bit sudden...” he murmured in his faint German accent.

Remy’s mouth split into a hard smile. “Imagine me, mon ami! This fair cherie also introduced me to two brothers and my father I’d not known of ten minutes ago, and now she has found me a half-brother on my mother’s side!”

I was going to have to ask Dealer just what kind of Wards she’d put on the place, and if she’d had Wanda help her. This was all too unreal. “Kurt, is it?” I asked him.

“Kurt Wagner,” he confirmed, turning the W to a V.

“Kurt, why don’t you come with me. I’ve a feeling there’s some interesting conversations and plans going to be made in the near future here.”

“It would be my pleasure, Dynamo!” he agreed with a flourish.

On the way back I noted Remy asking Kurt in a low voice if he was Romani, by his accent. It was confirmed, and there were some hand signals exchanged, and “Ahs!” of quiet recognition, and things advanced along...

“Wanda!” he blurted out as we entered the back room. “Pietro!” he called out immediately thereafter.

“Kurt?!” they both exclaimed together, jumping to their feet. There was an immediate convergence of polite embraces, hugs, and rapid-fire Romani between the three of them. I sent Remy back to his brothers for now, dragging Wanda off to my table with her brother and Kurt, who I gave a gesture that it was all right with Remy, their business would wait.

-----------

“Let’s see your alternate form, Kurt,” I told him, seated now with the Summers again.

“Certainly, fraulein.” Quite composed, he closed his eyes, and flipped a mental circuit. Dark blue smoke or mist seemed to boil and swirl around him, and his pale skin darkened to a deep blue light fur, his eyes became golden orbs, his dark hair went blue, and a spade-tipped tail emerged from his tailbone. His four fingers became two, while his four little toes also became two larger ones, his big toe now basically extending out his heel. His ears were longer and pointed, and his canines sharp and prominent.

Still roguishly handsome, however. The Draufganger, the Daredevil of Germany, famous for wielding three swords at a time and being a master teleporter despite his age, an acrobat and master fencer who could compete on the world stage.

Despite himself, Corsair had to smile. “Well, lad, if you got those looks from your mother, I think I’d recognize her... and no, I don’t.”

I was pretty sure I did, however. Did Mystique still live in this timeline? I had the feeling she had been eliminated some time ago. If I remembered my comics, Sinister had a major hand in LeBeau’s past. If he had crossed the Summers bloodline with Mystique, he likely could have done it with or without her help.

Corsair wouldn’t have recognized her, regardless. I was also pretty sure that Sinister wasn’t alive anymore, because Sama would have eliminated him just on the face of it, master geneticist or no. He might have gotten out of Nazi Germany in time to escape Briggs’ wrath, but that just meant she had to hunt him down a while longer, slippery devil that he was.

Doing so had probably pissed off En Sabah Nur, too, come to think of it. I’m sure the thought helped Sama sleep well at night, given her attitude...

I was mostly silent as the five men went over their stories with one another. Kurt was the oddest man out, but given Corsair’s and Remy’s proclivities, he fit in like he was born to be there... and him being a teleporter certainly didn’t hurt in the powers department.

------

The four brothers and half-brothers headed off to the bar to get smashing drunk, while I pulled Corsair aside to let them do so. They were perfectly safe as long as they were in this place.

“Corsair, Major Summers,” I said in a serious voice, and with the skill of an experienced captain, he got his churning emotions under control for a minute. “I think it would be a very, very good thing if you went and had a conversation with The Great Bear and The Golden Hag.”

“Aye? And why is that, now?” he asked me shrewdly, and to his surprise, I thorked his forehead.

“You’re a starship captain, you’ve seen whole other galaxies. Lose that Murican attitude towards the two of them. I can absolutely guarantee you that the two of them have also been out in the stars, long before Primus took his trip around the galaxy, or the Lantern arrived here to watch over us.

“You’re the only Terran with a functional intergalactic-capable starship alive... except for those the two of them and the High Guard have captured. The ramifications for the planet are incredible just by the technology you command. If you want to lead this planet into the next age, and you’ve definitely got the moxie to do it, you need to talk to the pair of them.

“It will be worth your time in all the ways, Captain Corsair, and make no mistake of it.” I turned my eye towards where Lilandra was still discussing matters with Charles Xavier. “Whether we like it or not, there’s going to be a relationship between Terra and the Shi’ar, and you’re sitting smack dab in the middle of it. If the Hag or the Bear don’t like the direction you’re dragging the planet in, odds are she’ll just chop your ship into little pieces, or he’ll just one-shot it out of the stars.”

He blinked at me in shock. “You need to talk to them. Watch this vid when you’ve a moment.” I waved over the holo recording of the Celestial/Galactus duel. “You may be just a starship captain and pirate Out There, but here, you’re the first Starship Captain of the Planet of Terra, and thus a Big Thing.” I leaned in slightly. “They’ll make you an even bigger thing, Captain.”

“Huh.” He blinked at the thought, mind racing. “The boys, they’ll be fine?” he asked, despite himself.

“Dealer is watching over them. They’ll be fine, although Alex has no drinking experience whatsoever. Also...” I turned as one of Dealer’s sims zipped up, handed me a platter, and zipped away.

He stared at what was on it. Five baseball mitts, and a couple of baseballs.

“For the morning.” I handed them over to him, and he looked like he was going to say something, but held it in, and just nodded.

“Your Imperial Highness!” he called out, and the Shi’ar princess turned to look at him. “I’ve a mind to drop in on the planetary governors and sound them out. Would the imperial princess like to tag along and meet them?”

She looked at Xavier, who flushed straight to his core. There was probably nothing he would want more than to meet with The Great Bear and get the onus laid upon him rescinded.

I had sidled over to MJ, who was watching all this through half-closed eyes as the Baxter crew all dozed around her. I bent down to her ear, and whispered, “It’s all right if they drop in on the two, right?”

She turned her head slightly to look at me. “Shouldn’t you be texting her?” she asked me smoothly.

“Faster this way, and she doesn’t have to pretend she’s cross with me.”

Her green eyes flickered. “,” she said softly in Hyrkanian.

I nodded once with a small smile, patted her shoulder, and straightened back up. “Charles will naturally be going with you,” I told the Shi’ar princess, and any resistance Xavier had to the idea reversed itself instantly.

----

The Shi’ar Imperial Guard, long bored but still attentive to their duty, sprang to their feet when Lilandra finally made to leave the eatery. Unfortunately for them, someone else got there first.

Hercules was there, and as the Starjammer crew, Lilandra, and Xavier in his chair exited, he stopped and put down his foot.

The wave of force was clearly felt by everyone around, and the Imperial Guard, including their purple mohawked leader, froze in place.

“Edict 178, harassment of those aboard the Colosseum shall be settled by immediate challenge and resolution in the rings,” the bearded Olympian proclaimed in hearty Allspeech, grinning broadly and confidently. “If you take one step after this party, we are all taking a trip to the rings, and I shall begin the challenges with the weakest of you.” His face turned on a pale ivory-skinned and silken-haired female telepath calmly. “There will be broken bones to encourage you to act more politely in the future. Be prepared for them, lads and lasses!” he smiled enthusiastically, crossing his arms across his muscled chest. Space seemed to creak as he flexed, meeting the eyes of their leader without fear.

The Guardsman called Gladiator was a Paramount of great power, but Hercules had bluntly said he’d take out the weakest first, which meant the entire rest of his party would be crippled, even if he could beat Hercules, which was ambiguous. Hercules sparred with Primus, and unlike the challenges taking place here, there weren’t any limits on bringing in equipment or using other abilities.

Gladiator probably didn’t believe it, but Hercules could hand him his head if he wasn’t careful.

The Imperial Guard didn’t move as the Starjammers and Princess Lilandra walked away, and the very interested Students looking on around us glanced at one another and nodded at the intimidating display. Hercules hadn’t put on much of a show, as challengers had to get past The Rock and The Mountain to get to him, and Mr. Hill took it as a personal offense for someone to challenge Hercules before fighting him. Like Primus, the matches he’d agreed to had been Students and mostly educational, not serious.

Mr. Hill and Mr. Grimm hadn’t bothered to challenge him, either. No need to give Champion an example of what he was in for. He could watch old television footage and get his analysis that way.