Luv stood frozen beside the Ancient One's prone form, his small body rigid with confusion and growing distress.

  "Dad?" His voice came out small and trembling, blue eyes fixed on the unconscious woman. "Why is the old lady sleeping on the floor? Is she gonna wake up?"

  Jay knelt beside his son while simultaneously trying to address multiple crises unfolding around him. Calming Luv required gentle hands on small shoulders. "She's okay, buddy. She just got a surprise and needed to rest for a minute. See? Everything's fine."

  Meanwhile, extracting the Staff of the Living Tribunal from Luv's other hand without triggering the artifact's defensive protocols demanded delicate precision. The staff still pulsed with golden light. Jay wrapped his Supernatural Scrambling around it carefully, to sever the connection between artifact and wielder without causing feedback.

  Mordo caught the staff as Jay passed it over, the master's hands trembling as he held his own artifact that had just responded to a five-year-old with more power than fifteen years of dedicated service had ever earned him.

  Wong stood beside his fellow sorcerer, both men's faces cycling through shock and concern as they hovered near their unconscious teacher as they've never seen the Ancient One vulnerable before.

  "She'll be fine," Jay said while his own hands glowed with soft green light as Healing Aura spread from his palms to check the Ancient One's vital signs. "It's just shock, Her heart rate's elevated but stable, She'll come around soon."

  When the Ancient One finally came to, her eyes fluttered open slowly, taking in her surroundings. The first thing she noticed was Jay's head, still covered in that ridiculous loose and lumpy beanie he'd been wearing since arriving.

  Her gaze shifted to Mordo and Wong, both inspecting the Staff of the Living Tribunal with concern, running their hands over the artifact to ensure it hadn't been damaged by a five-year-old's enthusiastic wielding.

  Finally, she saw the child. Hiding behind Jay, peeking out to glance at her with those innocent blue eyes, but immediately ducking back behind Jay's legs the moment their gazes met.

  The Ancient One remembered everything that had happened in a rush that made her head spin. Yesterday's apocalyptic events, Jay's increasingly escalating revelations delivered with casual disregard for her sanity, and finally seeing this child burst through her wards like they were tissue paper, spinning one of Kamar-Taj's most powerful artifacts like a toy.

  She sat up quickly, centering herself with a mental mantra she'd learned centuries ago, trying to regain some of her lost composure while her heart still hammered against her ribs. Everything that had happened was all too much for her poor heart.

  Wong, ever attentive to his teacher's needs, produced a glass of water from nowhere, offering it with both hands and a worried expression.

  The Ancient One drank deeply, the cool liquid helping ground her.

  Jay's Healing Aura finally faded "Master, you're getting old. Please think of your age and start preparing for retirement," Jay said, his tone carrying genuine worry beneath the teasing.

  The Ancient One's eye twitched dangerously. Her hand shot out, grabbing Jay's ear with surprising strength for someone who'd just fainted. "And who, precisely, bears responsibility for this shock?" She twisted slightly, making Jay wince. "My idiot student goes around doing stupid things, then escalates his antics one after another!"

  She produced her most dreaded weapon from thin air, a rolled-up newspaper that had terrorized generations of Kamar-Taj students, raising it threateningly.

  Jay's eyes widened with genuine panic, and he bowed his head in supplication. "Master, please, not in front of the kid! What would he think of his father?"

  That finally stopped the Ancient One mid-swing. She glanced at the child peeking out from behind Jay, then back at Jay's bowed head with that loose beanie. The ridiculous headwear irritated her more with each passing second.

  She lowered the newspaper, then reached out and yanked at the beanie with exasperation. "Take that ridiculous thing off! You're my student, for Vishanti's sake. At least present yourself properly when..."

  The beanie came off, and she froze.

  Jay's hair looked like it had been through a personal war. Some sections stuck straight up as if he'd just been electrocuted. Others bent at odd angles, refusing to lie flat no matter how hard gravity tried. A few strands were tangled into small knots, like he'd been wrestling with static all morning and lost. It looked like a bird had decided to make her nest on Jay's scalp.

  "What... what manner of…..?" The Ancient One's voice came out strangled in disbelief. "At minimum, child, you could have groomed yourself properly before presenting yourself before your teacher! This is..."

  She reached out, trying to use her fingers to untangle the disaster that was Jay's current hairstyle, but the knots resisted her efforts with surprising stubbornness.

  Jay teleported across the hall in a flash of blue light, putting distance between himself and his Master's styling attempts. When he spoke, his voice carried absolute seriousness mixed with pleading vulnerability. "Please, Master, this is the first hairdo my son has done, and he was so proud when he finished. I want to keep it as it is for as long as possible."

  The Ancient One paused, truly looking at her student's expression for the first time since waking. The desperate sincerity in his eyes, the way his entire body language screamed protective parent and finally the genuine emotion bleeding through his usual irreverent facade.

  She couldn't believe her most powerful student, The PowerBroker who'd gone toe to toe with Lady death was reduced to a child-obsessed parent.

  She sighed deeply, the fight draining from her as maternal understanding replaced irritation. She returned to her seat, settling into the familiar meditation position while her mind worked to process everything.

  Her expression shifted, becoming deadly serious that made even Mordo and Wong take involuntary steps backward.

  "Explain everything."

  Wong started to speak, concern evident in his tone. "Ancient One, the child..."

  But the Ancient One raised one hand in a sharp gesture, cutting him off mid-sentence. Her gaze fixed on Jay. "Only you speak. And keep it brief."

  Jay gulped visibly, recognizing that expression from past lectures that had left him questioning his life choices. He nodded, then gently guided Luv into his lap.

  He placed his hands carefully over the child's ears to avoid him hearing anything Jay didn't want him to process yet.

  "Master, you must have sensed the explosion in the Atlantic yesterday?" Jay's voice came out carefully controlled.

  The Ancient One nodded once. "Yes, I remember. Especially the high-order energy releasing in waves. I was about to investigate when I found out you supposedly 'dealt' with it." She made air quotes with her fingers, the gesture carrying heavy sarcasm. "Though your definition of 'dealing' with problems has proven increasingly concerning."

  Jay nodded, his eyes shaking slightly as his breathing approached panic while his hands remained firmly over Luv's ears. "Well, it was actually Sinister and his Cabal who caused the explosion. They'd collected genetic samples from both Franklin Richards and Nathan Summers, trying to combine them and create the ultimate weapon."

  He looked down at Luv, his expression crumbling as emotion threatened to overwhelm him, all while the child just looked around the hall with innocent curiosity, completely unaware of the heavy conversation happening above his head.

  Seeing Jay's distress, the Ancient One felt dread settling in her stomach, but Jay continued before she could speak.

  "I knew Sinister wouldn't leave genetics from the most powerful mutants ever born alone." His jaw clenched hard enough to make muscle jump in his cheek "So when I delivered both babies, I prepared contingencies. I planted a trigger in their genetic code that would destabilize any cloning attempts. But Sinister somehow partially bypassed it by combining both genetic samples into one organism. After my broadcast, revealed their plan's failure, they must have activated the clone in desperation. The genetic code, multiplied by combining two omega-level powersets and fuelled by vast cosmic and psychic energy, triggered catastrophically. Hence, the nuclear level explosion."

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  The Ancient One, Mordo, and Wong froze now, the full realization of what Jay was describing slowly dawning on them.

  Jay continued, his voice dropping to barely above a whisper despite Luv's covered ears. "When Domino and I went to investigate on the explosion despite our exhaustion, we saw the clone still at the epicentre, fighting for his life. Domino, after tremendous effort, managed to bring the clone's soul back from the spiritual plane, finally breathing life into the innocent child."

  He kissed Luv's head affectionately, the gesture carrying protective love that made the Ancient One's fists relax.

  The Ancient One stood up again, both Wong and Mordo still reeling from the revelation, staring at the child in front of them with new understanding.

  Despite seeing her reaction, Jay pressed on. "After we brought him home and caught our breath, after we'd had time to really look at him properly, we understood what we had. An innocent child, completely blameless for every sin committed to create him. After a lot of soul-searching and emotional discussions, we knew what we needed to do. We decided to adopt him."

  The Ancient One moved to stand directly in front of Jay, her expression completely blank, which somehow felt more terrifying than anger. "So this child carries the combined potential of both Nathan Summers and Franklin Richards? Both children whose power I don't dare fathom because I'm scared of what they might achieve? And this child now carries both their potential and powers?"

  Jay nodded slowly. "Well, we haven't checked the power as I've been constantly running my null field to suppress any sudden outbursts."

  The Ancient One processed this information for several long moments, then knelt in front of Jay to match her eye level with the child's as Jay removed his hands from Luv's ears. "Child, what is your name?"

  Luv looked at her with curiosity, but remembering how important she was to Jay, he stood up properly from Jay's lap and offered his hand with the careful formality of someone trying very hard to make a good impression. "Hello, my name is Luv! It means the love of both my mom and my dad. What is your name?"

  The Ancient One took the child's small hand in hers, feeling the warmth of living flesh, the trust implicit in the gesture. She patted his head gently while speaking in a tone that carried unexpected softness. "It's good to meet you, Luv. My name is the Ancient One, but you may call me Yao."

  Both Mordo and Wong's heads snapped toward their teacher in perfect synchronization, shock evident on both faces. They were hearing her true name for the first time in all their years of study, realizing just how completely she'd accepted this child under her protection.

  After shaking Luv's hand with proper gravity, she looked back at Jay. "What do you need from me, Jay?"

  Jay's relief was palpable as tension drained from his shoulders. "I want to be sure everything's alright with him mystically and spiritually, considering his origin."

  The Ancient One nodded, then began chanting mantras in Sanskrit, her voice rising and falling in patterns that made the air shimmer. She produced multilayered spells with a magnitude of precision that surprised even Mordo and Wong, who'd never seen their teacher work with quite this level of focused intensity.

  The magic wrapped around Luv in ways that looked nothing like the simple scans she performed on students, this was deeper and more thorough, examining him at levels that touched soul and the fundamental structure of his existence.

  Luv's eyes went wide with wonder as the golden light surrounded him, and instead of fear or confusion, pure delight spread across his small face. "Whoa! Look at all the pretty sparkles! They're warm! Dad, are you seeing this?"

  His small hands reached out to touch the light, fingers passing through geometric patterns that reformed around his touch, and he giggled with the uninhibited joy of childhood wonder.

  The Ancient One couldn't help but smile despite the seriousness of her examination, watching this child react to mystical forces with the same enthusiasm most children showed for toys.

  "The patterns move when I touch them!" Luv's voice carried amazement that made him bounce slightly on his feet. "Can I learn to make the pretty lights too? Please? I promise I'll be really good at it!"

  "Perhaps someday," the Ancient One said while her spells continued their work, examining, measuring, ensuring nothing was wrong beneath the surface. "If your father permits it and you show the dedication required, I would be willing to teach you the foundational arts."

  The examination lasted several minutes that felt longer, golden light flowing over Luv in waves while the child experimented with touching different patterns, laughing each time they reformed around his fingers.

  Finally, the light dimmed and faded completely, drawn back into the Ancient One's hands as she completed her assessment.

  Luv clapped his hands together with pure delight at the magical show he'd just witnessed, completely unaware of the profound examination he'd just undergone. "That was so cool!"

  "I've examined him thoroughly. Mystically, spiritually, and physically, he appears stable. The genetic combination that created him has settled into a unique but cohesive whole. His potential is indeed vast, but it's dormant for now, waiting to emerge as he grows and learns."

  She paused, choosing her next words carefully. "However, I must stress this, Jay: his development needs to be monitored constantly. The combination of Franklin's reality-warping and Nathan's telekinetic potential, when they eventually manifest, will require extremely careful guidance. One wrong step, one moment of lost control, and he could accidentally reshape reality around him without meaning to."

  Jay nodded gravely, the weight of that responsibility settling on his shoulders like a physical burden. "I understand, Master. That's why I wanted your assessment. Domino and I won't let anything happen to him or anyone around him."

  Then the Ancient One's expression shift, becoming serious again as concern gave way to curiosity. She leaned forward slightly. "Now then, what's with the child playing with one of the strongest weapons of Kamar-Taj as if it were a toy?"

  Wong quickly stepped forward, professional composure reasserting itself as he explained. "Master, Jay appeared in the courtyard and tasked me with the child's care so he could discuss important matters with you in private. While I was showing Luv around, he saw light from Master Mordo's practice session, and when we went over..."

  Mordo continued, his voice carrying embarrassment that made his ears turn red. "It was my mistake, Master. I set my artifact down to discuss the child's origin with Wong, and when I wasn't looking, the child somehow grabbed it and activated it. In his excitement to show it to Jay, he just ran toward the hall where he'd last seen his father."

  The Ancient One turned around, her foot beginning to tap in that distinctive pattern that every Kamar-Taj student had learned to fear, a rhythm that preceded severe consequences for carelessness.

  Both Mordo and Wong appeared genuinely worried, exchanging quick glances that silently debated who should speak first and whether throwing themselves on her mercy would help.

  But Jay gestured for them to calm down, then whispered something in Luv's ear with exaggerated secrecy, cupping his hand around his mouth.

  Luv nodded enthusiastically, understanding his mission. He ran to the Ancient One with the determined waddle of a five-year-old on a quest. Tugging on her robes to get her attention, he looked up at her with those impossibly innocent blue eyes.

  When he spoke, his voice carried such genuine remorse that it could have melted granite. "Pewase don't be angry, Grandma Yao! I'm sowwy!"

  Jay and the others could literally see a virtual arrow pierce the Ancient One's heart.

  Her fury and strict demeanor broke like glass. She knelt and hugged Luv immediately, consoling the child with soothing words and gentle touches, assuring him she wasn't angry at all, that he'd done nothing wrong.

  While embracing the Ancient One, Luv peeked over her shoulder and gave Jay a thumbs up with a glint in his eyes that looked far too calculating for someone his age.

  Jay returned the gesture with a conspiratorial wink.

  Mordo and Wong stared at the exchange, recognition slowly dawning on their faces as they realized what they'd just witnessed. A new monster was being born right before their eyes, and they both silently cursed whatever fool had coined the phrase "blood is thicker than water," already feeling bad for Luv's future enemies who would have to face both Jay's cunning and this child's apparently natural talent for manipulation.

  The Ancient One finally released Luv from the hug, straightening up with a soft expression that lingered as she looked at the child. Then she turned to Jay, her demeanor shifting back to business though warmth remained in her eyes.

  "You'll do fine," she said finally, her voice carrying certainty that came from centuries of judging character. "Both of you have the love and strength needed. Just remember, when his powers do manifest, bring him here immediately. I would be honoured to train Luv."

  Luv tugged on Jay's pants, his attention span for adult conversations thoroughly exhausted. "Dad, can we go play now? Grandma Yao said I'm okay!"

  Jay smiled down at him, ruffling the hair that had so painstakingly styled Jay's own into chaos. "Yeah, buddy, we can go. Just let me say goodbye properly first."

  He turned back to the Ancient One, bowing respectfully with hands pressed together. "Thank you, Master. For everything. For examining him, for accepting him, for not hitting me with that newspaper."

  The Ancient One's lips twitched with amusement despite herself. "Don't push your luck on that last point."

  Jay picked up Luv, settling the child comfortably in his arms as blue light began gathering around them. "We'll visit again soon. And I'll keep you updated on any developments."

  "See that you do," the Ancient One said. As the teleportation light consumed them both, she added quietly, "And Jay? Congratulations. On your family."

  The words reached him just as the light flared, and Jay's smile was the last thing she saw before they vanished.

  The Ancient One stood alone in her chambers with Mordo and Wong hovering uncertainly nearby, the silence profound after the chaos of the past hour.

  Finally, Wong spoke carefully. "Master, that child..."

  "Is exactly what Jay said," the Ancient One interrupted gently. "An innocent life given a second chance. And under Jay and Domino's care, he'll have the guidance and love he needs to become something wonderful rather than something terrifying."

  Mordo cleared his throat. "But the power, Master. If he truly carries both Franklin and Nathan's potential..."

  "That aside", she added with the faintest smile, "having the child learn here occasionally might do us all some good. Kamar-Taj has become too sombre lately. A little chaos could be refreshing."

  Both Mordo and Wong exchanged glances that clearly said they disagreed with that assessment, but neither were foolish enough to voice that opinion aloud.

  The Ancient One's smile widened slightly. "Now, I believe you both have training sessions to conduct. Unless you'd prefer to stay and help me recover from my 'old age,' as my student so kindly pointed out?"