Vision drew smoke deep into his lungs and let it out slow, chuckling softly to himself as he looked out the window. The City looked lovely, as it always did. Inside the Manor, things were about to become...not so lovely.
"Have a seat, son," he said without looking around at the man who'd entered behind him. "We need to have ourselves a little chat."
Jude moved, obedient without thinking, and took the seat opposite his father's desk. "Of course, father."
Vision's gaze gleamed as he turned at last to look at this, not his only but certainly one of his favorite sons. "Something special's going to happen here."
Jude paused, his fingers going still on his chin. "I see. And what is that?"
Vision shrugged. "I never know until it happens. Just that it will. All over the place." He grin, sliding his tongue over his teeth in a familiar gesture. "And I love it."
Jude's smile appeared out of reflex. When his father smiled, he smiled too. It had to be a good thing. "Well, what will it be like?"
"Glorious." Vision meant it. He drew more smoke from his cigar, thinking on the promise that lay ahead of them all...all his "children," the ones he'd spawned and those he hadn't. "Chaos."
Jude's lips pursed slightly. He wasn't a huge fan of chaos, but if his father was behind it, could it be all bad? Of course, but hopefully not for him. "Well... What's going to happen to me?"
Vision sighed, rolling his eyes a little. "Nut up, son. What do you think will happen to you? Nothing you don't want to happen."
Jude blinked, chastised but feeling uneasy. "Of course. Thank you, father," he said distractedly.
"What would you like your life to have been if it wasn't what it was now?"
"What would I like?" Jude asked, thinking about that. "You mean, if you hadn't shown up?"
"Yes, yes," Vision said impatiently, snapping his fingers. "Let's say you had a week to live your life an entirely different way. What would you choose?"
Jude's mind spun and he couldn't stop it from going back to before. Before his father. He would've had a family. He would've gotten married. Had a family. He blinked, the thoughts never touching his mind before now. "I, ah," he said and cleared his throat. "My life is so good right now that I hadn't given it much thought."
Vision grinned, narrow-eyed, and turned back to the City to contemplate it. "Then you can just sit back and watch, like I do, whatever happens to everyone else."
Pause. A breath. The scent of sulfur.
"Or not."
Jude's head started to pound, then slowly his vision went black.
Then, he was someone else.
OOC: This is the launch of AU week, should you choose to participate! As always, you are not required to play in an alternate universe and if you'd rather carry on with regular plot, that's fine too. Have fun, and remember - absolutely anything goes and it's over Saturday night at 11:59 pm!