Unknownfate
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Chapter 115
🕑 Added 2025-05-01 16:05:22 +0000 UTC“Dad, are we there soon? I’m bored!” Mordred called out for the millionth time, or at least it felt like it.
Packing up didn’t take long, though apparently Jessica was mistaken about something, and didn’t get that she was coming with us.
I wasn’t about to just leave her here. I might have saved her from that purple dressed guy, but I had also dragged her into a world of new problems.
The Hand was after her, and apparently, Mordred had caused enough problems that a SHIELD team was sent to capture them.
That wasn’t something she could just ignore, and unless she wanted to hide under Stark for the rest of her life, she wouldn’t be able to stay in the US, where she was so hunted. Which meant I had to take responsibility.
So I figured that until the heat calmed down and something could be done, I would take her to Albion, where she could walk around freely without worrying about SHIELD and The Hand.
So, we stuffed her few worldly possessions into the trunk of the car and went in. The car was feeling rather full, given we were five people all in here.
Still, that wasn’t the end of the world, no, but instead the fact that Mordred got bored, and Jessica got bored, then Sprite also got bored, and they all started whining without end!
I was driving.
Sersi sat beside me with the serenity of a monk who had mastered the art of ignoring noise. She’d retreated into some kind of meditative state, one that I envied with every passing mile. Her hands folded in her lap, eyes half-lidded, probably dreaming of trees and silence.
Behind us?
Chaos.
“Are we there yet?”
“No.”
“Now?”
“No.”
“How about now?”
“…still no.”
“Ughhhhhh.” Mordred slumped dramatically against the door, her cheek smooshed against the window. “This is torture. We should’ve ridden a dragon or teleported or something cool, not taken a glorified metal coffin.”
“I agree with Mordred, we should have teleported,” Jessica muttered from the middle seat, squeezed between Mordred and Sprite. Fully fed up with them trying to fight every few minutes.
“Because I didn’t know that it would take half a full day to get to Chicago by car, and now I’m not about to stop driving just because you two can’t behave yourself, so we are driving the entire way, even if just to torment you!” I was equally fed up with them.
But in the end, they had to learn to deal with this. And maybe I had to learn it too.
Sersi cracked one eye open at my outburst, then let it drift shut again, expression still peaceful. “There’s value in the journey,” she said in a tone so composed it nearly made me swerve the car out of spite.
Mordred groaned. “I swear if one more person says something philosophical I’m going to scream.”
“You already screamed,” Jessica said dryly.
“Yeah, why don’t you just shut up? No one here wants to hear your whining, princess.” Sprite shot back with a rude tone.
Mordred whipped her head around. “What was that?”
Sprite gave her a smug smile, resting her chin in her hands. “You heard me, stop whining like a little baby, princess.”
“You little shit! Isn’t this past your bedtime? Maybe you should take a nap? Or maybe you can’t sleep without your pacifier?” Mordred snapped back.
“Ahhh.” I sighed, here they go again. Another fight, with poor Jessica stuck in the middle.
If possible, I would have allowed Mordred to sit in the front; that way, they couldn’t fight… but Sprite also wanted to sit in the front… so they fought over that… truly, there was no way to avoid it.
It was like babysitting three overpowered toddlers trapped in adult bodies. Or I guess Jessica might count as a teenager, slightly more mature, but still problematic in her own way, given how I could clearly see her trying to emulate Mordred’s behaviour.
“I will pull this car over,” I said through gritted teeth, for what had to be the fifth time. “And you will both walk the rest of the way to Chicago.”
“You wouldn’t dare,” Mordred scoffed, crossing her arms.
“Try me.”
“Honestly?” Jessica said, shifting in her seat, “At this point, I hope you do.”
Mordred and Sprite fell into a sullen silence for all of twenty seconds.
Then Sprite broke it. “So, how long before we get there again?”
“No one talk to me.” I said immediately. “Not unless you’re on fire or about to be.”
“Are those my only options?” Sprite asked innocently.
Jessica turned her head slowly to glare at her. “Do you want me to yeet you out this window?”
“You’d be doing me a favor,” Sprite muttered.
In the front seat, Sersi finally opened both eyes and tilted her head with a faint smile. “Perhaps we should play a game to pass the time?”
There was a beat of silence.
Then Mordred said, “We are not playing ‘I Spy’ again. If I have to hear ‘something gray’ one more time—”
“It was the seatbelt buckle!” Sprite cried defensively.
“It’s supposed to be something outside the car!” Both Mordred and Jessica shot back.
“You both did clouds three times in a row before that!” Sprite defended.
I banged my forehead against the steering wheel — gently. “I have battled gods,” I muttered. “I rebuilt a kingdom. I wield the spear that pierces the skies. And now I am driving a nightmare through Indiana.”
“Oh, this is Indiana?” Jessica said, looking out the window. “No wonder the air smells like deep-fried boredom.”
“We’re stopping at the next gas station,” I said, tone final. “If only to get away from all of you for five blessed minutes.”
“Can I get candy?” Sprite asked immediately.
“What a kid,” Mordred scuffed. “Wanting her candy!”
I sighed again. Loudly. Dramatically. And kept driving.
We were halfway to Chicago.
Halfway.
To killing someone…
…
We ended up stopping about an hour later.
Just to get some air and some gas.
But Mordred started whining again, acting more like a little kid then she had ever done before. Clearly her time under Tony Stark’s care had awakened something in her, this strange ability to be an annoying kid.
I missed my overly loyal knight.
Hopefully she would return to normal before I ended up doing something I would regret.
But for now, just to shut Mordred up, and because her crying about being hungry, kinda made me hungry, I agreed to go into the burger joint attached to the gas station.
Some McDonald’s knockoff call burger Jack’s, but when it came to food, one couldn’t be picky, and my right side really did like this kind of junk food.
We stepped into the restaurant, greeted by the familiar scent of fryer oil, grilled meat, and despair.
Sprite immediately made a beeline for the claw machine near the front counter. While Mordred followed by Jessica went to claim some seats.
Which just left Sersi and me standing at the door. “Guess we are ordering.” I muttered as I went up to the counter.
The poor young man behind it seemed like he had lost his ability to think at the sight of me.
The poor young man behind the counter blinked twice, swallowed, and tried to stand up straighter. “Uh… welcome to Burger Jack’s. Would you like to try our Mega Meal Combo today?”
I leaned slightly on the counter, scanning the laminated menu overhead, then gestured casually. “Yes. I’ll take twenty of them.”
He froze. “I—I’m sorry, did you say… twenty?”
“Yes,” I said, perfectly calm. “And I’d also like a tray of those triple bacon-stack specials, maybe ten of those. Five apple pies. Six milkshakes… in fact, double that order, and give me… ten family-size fries for the table. And what do you want Sersi? And Sprite?”
Sersi seemed to be struggling with the large order, almost as much as the guy taking it, he seemed to need a restart.
“Sersi?” I asked again, breaking her out of her spell.
“Ah yes… just a… chicken salad for me and… a meal set two for Sprite,” She finally decided.
“And some drinks with that. Give the table… 15 large sodas, just a bit of everything.” I added as I figured that the milkshakes likely wouldn’t be enough.
The cashier was no longer blinking. He was just... staring. Possibly reconsidering his entire life.
“I… I think I need a manager,” he whispered.
“Take your time,” I said patiently.
Behind me, I could hear Sprite still trying to shake the claw machine like it owed her money. Mordred was loudly demanding to know why the ketchup packets came in such pitiful sizes, and Jessica was saying something about the seats being too sticky for civilized people.
This was my life now.
Sersi, ever graceful, stepped up beside me and added in a gentle voice, “And don’t forget the toy for the child. She will ask.”
“I’m not a kid!” Sprite shouted from across the room. “And I don’t want a toy!”
The cashier flinched.
It took the combined effort of two employees and the assistant manager to get our full order processed. They clearly didn’t feel like taking such a big order, but I paid in full, and added a large tip, making them accept it in the end.
It didn’t take long before food began arriving as they made it. And it was a massive amount for sure. And while Mordred was always competing with me about who could eat the most, now Sprite seemed to try to compete with Mordred.
It was a mess. Yet for a while, they weren’t openly yelling or asking about when we would be there, too busy stuffing their faces with an ungodly amount of food.
I had just finished my seventh burger — barely making a dent — when the door chimed.
It was subtle. Quiet. But something in the air shifted.
I knew that shift in the air. The kind that came before bad news. I looked up.
There he was.
An older man in a black leather trench coat stepped into the greasy light of Burger Jack’s, wearing an eye patch like it was the most natural thing in the world. He looked around with casual indifference, like someone who knew every exit without needing to turn his head.
He walked to the counter, ordered a black coffee-no food, no hesitation-and then turned slowly, scanning the booths. It was an empty gesture; I could clearly feel that he already knew where we were.
And indeed, his eye landed on our table, and without a bit of surprise he approached.
Jessica was the first to react, something I hadn’t anticipated, yet clearly she had grown rather guarded after what happened with mister purple.
Mordred was still chewing a mouthful of fries and didn’t react at all. Likely because she didn’t feel anything of note, after all, he was indeed not a danger to her, or to me, and he didn’t come with hostility.
Sprite froze halfway to dunking a nugget.
Sersi calmly placed her napkin on her lap, as if she were preparing for tea with a mildly unpleasant relative.
I set down my soda. “Can I help you?”
The man gave us all a measured look before speaking.
“I don’t know, maybe you can help me, answer a few friendly questions?” He said, pulling a chair over and joining us.
I had to admit, he had balls this man, sitting down on a table with people he knew to be enhanced, and even stealing our food.
“And what questions are those?” Jessica asked.
“Which one of you is traveling under the name... Alia Kingsley?”
That made Mordred pause. “The hell kind of name is that?”
“Not mine,” I said smoothly, which was technically true. “Why are you asking?”
Fury raised an eyebrow. “Because your paperwork says you’re from some obscure island nation that doesn’t exist. You’ve been flagged across three internal systems. Most people don’t walk into the U.S. with records that clean. Too clean.”
He looked at the rest of the table. “Also traveling with you... Eliza Strange. June Meadows. Jessica Jones — real name, the only real name… and then someone going by the name Mordred, real bold choice.”
(End of chapter)
A meeting between Arthuria and Fury has been long withheld. And while I was thinking about having the meeting happen in either Camelot or some UN conference, I just liked the idea of him popping up like a bad attempt at a ghost.
So, here he is, but how and why? Who knows!
Well, you will know at least some of that in the next chapter, which should be the last before heading back to Camelot. I just felt this meeting would be good, so I delayed the return home.
Just 1 more chapter before then, I promise!
And never believe a word I say… because I never keep my word.
Comments
Bluepikachu23
1 more chapter pleeeeeeease
Hooli4ss
Ahhh just what we’ve been waiting for . Fury meeting the once and future King is about to be hilarious.
