Marvel: NIHILITY

Dinner was... awkward, to say the least.

Emma sat at the head of the table, her expression oscillating between suspicion and curiosity.

David was slouched in his chair, picking at his plate, occasionally sneaking glances at Franklin, who was happily scarfing down his food like he hadn't eaten in days.

"So," Emma said, her tone deceptively casual as she swirled her wine glass. "Franklin. Tell me more about… me. Future me."

Franklin grinned, his eyes sparkling with mischief. "Future you? Oh, you were amazing. Kind of scary sometimes, but amazing. You practically ran the entire operation after Mom passed. Kept Dad in line when he got too reckless—which was, you know, every other week."

Emma raised an eyebrow. "Kept him in line? Sounds exhausting."

Franklin shrugged. "You managed. Even when Auntie Jean got into one of her moods, or when Aunt Wanda started breaking the multiverse again, or Auntie Hela wanted to start a universal conquest, or even Auntie Nemesis, who was always trying to give more siblings to us... you were like the glue that held the family together. And you made sure I didn't grow up to be a complete mess. So, thanks for that."

David was almost in tears. " Kid, stop it. I want to leave those troubles for future me! Let me live in peace and with a false hope that it's not gonna get apocalyptic."

Emma's lips twitched into a smile despite herself. "Well, someone has to keep this idiot in check." She gestured at David, who rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah," David muttered, leaning back. "You can keep stroking your ego, Emma. I'm more interested in the rest of the story. Like… how many women are we talking here, exactly?"

Emma's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Yes, Franklin. Do tell. How many other women did your 'dear old Dad' manage to rope into this supposed 'harem' of his?"

Franklin paused mid-bite, looking between the two of them. "Oh boy," he said with a smirk. "You guys sure you want the answer to that?"

"Spill it," Emma demanded, her eyes gleaming.

Franklin sighed theatrically, putting down his fork. "Alright, but don't say I didn't warn you. Let's see… there's you, obviously. Then Mom—uh, Susan. Auntie Jean. Aunt Wanda. Aunt Carol. Aunt Natasha. Aunt Felicia. Aunt Jessica—"

"Wait, wait, wait," David interjected, holding up his hand. "Jessica who? Drew or Jones?"

"Both," Franklin replied nonchalantly,

earning a groan from David and a glare from Emma.

Franklin continued, ticking off names on his fingers. "Aunt Ororo, Aunt Elektra, Aunt Yelena, Aunt Clea—"

"Clea?" David asked, genuinely surprised. "As in Sorcerer Supreme Clea?"

"Yup. And let's not forget Karnilla, Hela, and even the occasional cosmic entity like Lady Death and Eternity."

Emma choked on her wine. "Lady Death? Death herself? Are you serious?"

Franklin shrugged. "She and Dad had a weird… thing. Don't ask me to explain it."

David buried his face in his hands. "Oh God. I'm going to need therapy."

Emma smirked, her earlier irritation giving way to amusement. "Therapy? At this point, you need an intervention. You are basically a man whore going around catching women like they are freaking pokemons! I oughta put a chastity belt on you so you don't impregnate whole universes."

Franklin grinned. "It gets better. With the rate you two—and, uh, everyone else—were going, we were basically on track to populate an entire planet . Uncle Deadpool even joked about setting up a 'Family Planet.'"

David groaned again. "Why does that sound exactly like something Wade would say?"

Emma leaned forward, resting her chin on her hand. "So, let me get this straight. Future me essentially becomes this kid's mom, wrangling you and your intergalactic mess of a love life. And I still manage to keep it all together?"

"Pretty much," Franklin said, his voice warm. "You were the best, Mom. Really."

Emma's demeanor softened as she reached over to tousle Franklin's hair. "Well, at least I did something right in this crazy future." She pulled him into a hug, much to Franklin's surprise. "You're adorable. You can call me Mom anytime."

Franklin chuckled. "Thanks, Mom."

David watched the interaction with a mix of amusement and unease. "Alright, fine. You two can bond all you want. But I need details, kid. What kind of trouble am I dealing with in this future of yours? You said something about outer demons, the Beyonder, and—what was it? A cosmic war?"

Franklin's expression grew serious. "Yeah. It's… a lot. You're going to face some heavy stuff, Dad. The outer demons are going to try to break through the dimensional barriers again. The Beyonder's going to play his usual games, screwing with reality just for kicks. And then there's Death…"

Franklin hesitated, glancing at Emma before continuing. "She's not just refusing to return Mom's soul out of spite. She's got her own agenda. Something about balancing the cosmic scales. It's going to lead to a war that'll make the last Secret Wars look like a playground scuffle."

David sighed, rubbing his temples. "Great. Just great. Anything else I should know? Like, I don't know, the end of the multiverse?"

Franklin grinned sheepishly. "Actually… that's kind of on the table too."

Emma groaned. "Of course it is. Why wouldn't it be?"

David looked at his son, a weary smile tugging at his lips. "Well, kid, thanks for the heads-up. Guess I'd better start training for this insanity."

Franklin gave him a thumbs-up. "You've got this, Dad. You always do."

Emma raised her glass. "To surviving cosmic chaos and dysfunctional families."

David chuckled, clinking his glass against hers. "I'll drink to that."

"So, how many kids did he have in future?" Emma asked with a curious look.

" Well, it's kinda near the thousands," Franklin chuckled. " Most of that is due to Auntie Nemesis. After dad charmed her with the naruto therapy, she kinda became obsessed with him a bit too much. She alone had over thousands of kids with him, even Auntie Jean had only about ten kids from him.

Then there's you. I gotta hand it to you mom, you would literally drain him before dad went on cosmic adventures, so that he would not bring more women. That left you pregnant almost all year round. You also gave us seven siblings. Big sis Hellaina is the nicest of them, she would be the only one to calm down dad when he got into his genocidal mood."

David stuffed a chicken leg in Franklin's mouth. " Shut up and eat your dinner kid! Don't give your mom more reasons to get mad at me. At this rate, I'll have to become a monk ."

Emma smacked his head, " Don't stuff food in my son's mouth like that when he's telling the truth!"

As they settled back into their meal, David couldn't help but feel a strange sense of hope. Chaos might be inevitable, but at least he wasn't facing it alone.