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It was the year 1940, and Merlin was getting fed up with sitting back and doing nothing as wars raged on, so he decided to join the army. How he was supposed to accomplish that, he had no idea. He had spent the last few hundred years sat by lake Avalon sampling all the new culinary developments and trying to keep up with the ever-changing technologies. It was very confusing, but he knew the basics, especially after he met Thomas Edison who had taken him on as his assistant. So, this was the first time that Merlin had even left his village in centuries.
Mustering what little confidence he could, he approached an important-looking man, who looked to be in his early forties. He was wearing a neatly pressed suit and was screaming at one of his many bodyguards about letting his old assistant into his home whilst being an assassin who had deceived everyone, including him. This was certainly not an average guy. Unless he was, and Merlin was just too much of a hermit to realise.
He cleared his throat;
“Excuse me, do you have any idea where I could possibly, enlist for the army?” The man stared down his nose at him, astonished that this person would even speak to him. Merlin sighed and rolled his eyes. Great, another pompous arse. The man who had at first seemed astonished, grinned at Merlin’s sass.
“What is your name young man? I assume you already know mine.” He spoke in a loud, conversational tone, far from the angry growl he was using for his bodyguard. Merlin glanced at his watch.
“I’m Merlin, and what if I don’t?”
The man let out an amused snort, before glancing at is watch and looking shocked. “Well, I’m Howard Stark. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Merlin.” He smiled briefly. “As I am sure you overheard, my old assistant was fired, so you are hired. Congratulations. Now, come with me, before I end up accidentally loosing us the war by being late.” Howard took off at a trot, the security team a couple of paces behind, obviously used to the man’s erratic behaviour. Merlin was left shell-shocked for a moment, then had to sprint and weave through the crowd just to keep up with Howard’s relentless pace. He found Howard climbing into an expensive looking car.
“Well, what are you waiting for Mark. Get in!” Merlin slapped his face before climbing into the back next to him
“it’s Merlin not…” before he could finish he was cut off
“So, Marie. How much do you know about tech? You seem like a smart young man. Don’t worry if it’s not much as I can teach you whatever you don’t know.” Merlin put his face in has hand, groaning as he wondered why he was even going with this strange man, who was obviously getting his name wrong deliberately.
“I’m not all that confident with tech but I know the basics,” he said. Howard grinned again, his eyes glistening mischievously.
“That, my good man, is all we need to turn the war.”
Over the years Howard taught Merlin all he knew, dragging him across the country and showing him things he had never seen or could even imagine.
In return for his kindness, Merlin used his magic to defend Howard and his prodigy from harm, until one day he couldn’t. He had failed once again. To pay penitence for his negligence, he vowed to guard Tony, Howard’s son, and prodigy, from the shadows.
He went almost mad with worry when the boy was taken from him in the Middle East, and was overwhelmed by relief when he returned safely, becoming impressed by the man Tony had grown into during his time away.
Merlin watched Tony from the shadows as he became the hero that he always knew he could be. He found happiness when the billionaire took on his own assistant who was of course, secretly Spider-Man, and a genius in his own right.
One Tuesday afternoon though, everything changed. Peter, Tony’s assistant and surrogate son, saw a glimpse of gold in the shadows as the avengers were enjoying their late lunch together in the towers.
Peter stared at the corner of the room, a blank look on his usually lively face. Mr Stark noticed Peter’s strange expression, furrowing his eyebrows in question. He glanced at where the teen was looking but his eyes couldn’t nearly match up to the boy’s enhanced senses. Sighing, Tony rested his hand on Peters shoulder and nodded. Before the others had a chance to question the unusual interaction, Peter leapt from his seat and lunged towards the corner of the room. Faster than anyone should be able to move Peter had a strange, yet oddly familiar man, pressed against the wall by the throat.
Merlin cursed himself silently. He was usually brilliant at staying just out of sight, but he had become sloppy. He had thought, just for a second, that he could belong. His senses just had to notice the magical energy coming from the Norse god and ruin everything. The Avengers leapt to their feet, astounded that the intruder had managed to slip past the tower's impregnable defences. All except for one. Steve. Merlin’s eyes widened as the realisation dawned. He had been the one who helped to develop the super soldier serum.
Peter pulled his fist back, but before his hand could make contact Merlin flung him backwards with a flick of his golden eyes. As the gold faded back to blue Merlin fell forwards gasping for air. Peter landed on the ceiling, swiftly rearranging himself and lunging back into the fight, his nano-bot suit forming around himself as he did. Merlin dived to the side, aiming to incapacitate, not to harm. Usually by this point, the teenager would have concocted some witty banter to bat towards the assailant, but the snappy movements had completely absorbed his attention. Peter’s webs whipped past Merlin’s face yanking the spider foot-first directly towards Merlin’s head. Merlin’s eyes once again sparked gold and Spidey found himself tied to the ground by his own webs. Finally snapping from their trance, the rest of the Avengers pulled their signature weapons out from their backsides and leapt to defend the defeated Spiderling. Before either side could even land a blow Steve threw himself between them. “STOP!” He yelled, turning his body to face Merlin completely.
“Merlin?” He said, his head slightly to one side. Merlin smiled awkwardly.
“Yeah…” He replied. Steve looked like he had seen a ghost.
“How? Last I met you was…” Merlin grinned. “World War II” he finished Steve’s sentence. The others stared in shock.
“Also, out of all of you so far, you’re my favourite Spidey.” Merlin grinned at Spider-Man. Still, nobody else in the room could even muster a whisper. Merlin sighed and started to pace back and forth across the room.
“I suppose I owe you an explanation?” The Avengers nodded as one. Merlin sighed again and rubbed the the bridge of his nose. His eyes flashed gold once more and he appeared on the opposite side of the room pulling out a chair and sitting down, grinning at the bemused looks on the faces around the entire room.
After long hours of explanations and answering questions, evening fell upon the group. As no one had made any dinner plans, Tony ordered them all pizza. Peter insisted on watching the first star-wars film. He was outraged that the warlock had never seen any of the films, this was one of the many questions he had asked whilst the others were trying to learn more about the past of the potential threat.
That’s how Merlin found himself somehow part of the rag tag family that was the avengers. As the months began to drag on, he was always there when they needed him, and they were there for him when Arthur (that clot-pole) and the group of knights had finally emerged from the lake. All of them were ready to fight by his side to face whatever threat had warranted the return, of the round table.
The end! 1365 words.