American comics: Damn it, I’m surrounded by those who worry about their fathers!.

Chapter 1093 Tom: I Choose the Light When I Know Darkness

"So... this witch who demolished someone's house and caused a death was just taken away by a blue-skinned dwarf who suddenly appeared and claimed to 'watch without interfering'? To save the multiverse?!"

When Bao Bao saw Wanda "escape" like that, he couldn't help but complain.

Mordred put down his knight's sword and said somewhat unhappily, "Hmph, save the multiverse? Who knows if she suddenly gets carried away again, or is influenced by that lousy book? It would be good enough if she just makes things worse. Father, are you just going to let her go like that? And even give her equipment? Have you forgotten that she bombarded us with chaos magic before?"

She still harbors resentment over being attacked by Wanda.

Ah Zu also looked displeased.

Why is this woman acting so intimately with my dad's wife?
The thought of this crazy woman becoming his stepmother made Ah Zu feel terrible.

Clark calmed down a bit, but his brow was still furrowed. "Godfather, Wanda's power is indeed formidable, but her mental state seems to be quite unstable. Is it too risky to send her along with the Watchers to deal with unknown crises?"

Peter listened to the kids' complaints, coughed, and said with a somewhat unnatural expression, "Risk and opportunity go hand in hand. Perhaps, for her, this is a necessary trial and atonement."

Quicksilver, watching his sister leave like that, especially after kissing Peter and leaving without saying goodbye, felt hurt and couldn't help but complain, "Well, my sister's gone to be a hero again, though the way she did it was so sudden. I hope she doesn't mess it up this time."

Stephen Strange and Bruce Wayne exchanged a complicated look.

Stephen sighed: "I hope she can really find inner peace. The power of chaos magic, if used properly, is indeed a huge help."

Peter listened to the cacophony of complaints and discussions, rubbing his aching temples.

These mischievous kids are now questioning their own decision.

"Okay, okay, stop arguing."

Peter clapped his hands, drawing everyone's attention. "Wanda has her own path to walk, things she has to do, and we have things to do too."

His gaze swept over each of the Fathers, and he said with a serious expression, "The Watchers took away Black Strange, and now they've taken away Wanda. This means that the enemy they face may be even more terrifying than we imagined. The enemies of the multiverse are more powerful than we can imagine. You must become stronger and protect our home and our world."

Peter prepared the fathers mentally beforehand, reminding them that although they had defeated the Black Strange, there would be even stronger enemies in the future.

After he finished speaking, Peter's gaze fell on Raven. "Especially you, Raven, the power within you needs better guidance and control."

The fathers fell silent, though their faces still bore different expressions, Peter's words made them sense the crisis.

The crisis in the multiverse has not gone away; it has simply become intertwined with them in a different way.

After half an hour.

The star-shaped portal slowly closed in the courtyard of Kamar-Taj, and the last ripple of energy from the multiverse dissipated.

America stood there, watching Peter and the Fathers disappear from sight, a hint of reluctance in her eyes.

In the end, she chose to stay in Kamar-Taj, to learn magic from Stephen Strange, to master her powers, and to forge her own path.

Stephen looked at the girl who had once been shrouded in fear but now had a determined look in her eyes, and a hint of relief appeared in his eyes.

He reached out and gently patted America's shoulder: "Welcome to Kamar-Taj, Apprentice Chavez."

America nodded vigorously: "I know, Mr. Strange, I'm ready."

She paused, looked in the direction the portal had disappeared, and whispered, "I didn't have a chance to thank Mr. Patrick just now... Without him, I might never have been able to truly believe in myself."

Meanwhile, Peter, along with a group of fathers, Bruce Wayne, and Quicksilver, who had temporarily lost his sister and seemed somewhat dejected, passed through the portal back to the DC Universe opened by America.

After the familiar feeling of weightlessness and dimensional shift, the sensation of my feet stepping back onto solid ground came through.

The air was filled with the scents of grass, earth, and sunshine, and in the distance came the sounds of livestock bellowing in the barn and the rustling of the wind blowing through the cornfield.

The group finally returned to Patrick's Farm.

"Ah—the air at home smells so nice."

Bao Bao took a deep breath dramatically and opened his arms as if to embrace the entire farm.

"Finally back... I need to take a bath and then have a big meal!"

Mordred groaned as he stretched his aching shoulders.

Clark looked at the familiar scene and a relaxed smile appeared on his face.

Even Bruce Wayne, whose expression was usually icy, seemed to soften slightly.

Quicksilver looked around curiously.

He hadn't been to the farm since Christmas two years ago, and it seemed that the farm hadn't changed much.

Peter stood on the farm porch, looking at the bustling and vibrant scene before him, feeling the familiar and peaceful atmosphere of the farm. The fatigue and tension of the past few days finally relaxed, and the corners of his mouth unconsciously turned up.

Finally, I can take a break.

after lunch.

Peter called Tom into his room.

Sensing Tom's presence, Peter's expression turned somewhat serious.

The dark aura emanating from Tom was extremely faint, seemingly perfectly concealed by his superb Occlumency and magical skills.

But Peter's keen senses still detected a trace of unusual dark energy.

This dark aura is not the darkness belonging to the Hogwarts system or runic magic, but a remnant of a more ancient, colder, and seductive power filled with negative emotions.

"Close the door."

After a moment of silence, Peter spoke to Tom.

Tom gently closed the door, shutting out the sounds from outside.

Only the father and son remained in the study, and the atmosphere instantly became somewhat heavy.

"Father, what brings you here?"

Tom's voice was as gentle and polite as ever, without any discernible emotional fluctuation.

Peter stared intently at Tom with piercing eyes.

He didn't beat around the bush and went straight to the point: "There's a new power within you, Tom, a... dark power that doesn't belong to you, filled with resentment and seduction. Tell me, what is it?"

Tom's body stiffened for a moment, but his expression remained perfectly controlled; he merely raised an eyebrow slightly, revealing just the right amount of confusion.

"I don't understand what you mean, Father. I've been practicing the runes you taught me and the magic of Hogwarts. Perhaps I've made a breakthrough in battle, which made you feel something different?"

"Tom Patrick!"

Peter's voice suddenly turned stern. "Don't lie to me. Do you think your little bit of Occlumency can completely fool me? That power is full of negative emotions and the characteristics of mind corruption. It's somewhat similar to the aura Wanda exuded when she was bewitched, but it's much more ancient and insidious! What is it?"

Seeing that Peter seemed genuinely angry, Tom knew he could no longer hide it.

A crack finally appeared on the perfect mask on his face. After a moment of silence, he slowly lowered his head and said in a low voice, "It is... Heavenly Eclipse."

Upon hearing that the other party referred to it as a celestial eclipse, Peter immediately became furious.

Mordred had told him before that she had dealt with a demon who called himself Eclipse at the Talon Club, but she never expected it to happen to Tom.

This kid is really audacious!

With suppressed rage, Peter demanded, "You absorbed it?! The Heart of Darkness is in your hands now? Isn't that right?!"

Tom did not deny it, which can be considered an admission.

He raised his head, trying to explain, "Father, I just... I just wanted to help you. The situation was critical, and the Black Strange's power was beyond imagination. I needed even greater power!"

"Although the power of the Eclipse is dangerous, if one can control it, it will be a great help. I am not blindly absorbing it; I have studied parts of the Dark Book, and I know how..."

"Nonsense!"

Peter abruptly interrupted him, slamming his fist on the desk beside him with a loud bang, revealing his inner shock and anger.

"Do you know what you're doing? Eclipse is a being that manipulates people's hearts and amplifies darkness. Even the experienced heroes of the Justice Association have suffered greatly at its hands. Who do you think you are? Do you think you can control it just by reading a few pages of the Dark Book?!" Peter was truly enraged this time.

Is it because I usually act like a loving father that you all get carried away?!

"If you get close to it, you will be deceived by its apparent power and unable to see the abyss-like danger behind it. You will be bewitched by it, devoured by it, and eventually become like Black Strange and Wanda!"

"No, Dad, I'm not like them!"

Although Peter was furious, Tom felt he had to defend himself, saying, "I will never fall into darkness like them."

"Because of what?"

Peter stepped closer, his gaze fixed intently on him. "Because you think you're a dark sorcerer who can better control the darkness? Because you're smarter? More composed than them? Tom, I've told you, arrogance is the beginning of destruction."

"No, Dad."

Tom looked directly into Peter's angry eyes and said calmly, "Because I have witnessed the purest darkness and fear, I also know what true 'light' and 'warmth' are. I know where the boundary of that line is. I am not ignorant and fearless; I know the darkness and choose the light!"

Peter was stunned when he heard Tom say that he "chooses the light even in darkness".

Tom's eyes were unusually serious, even with an almost obsessive determination, as if he were stating a fact he firmly believed.

"What darkness have you... witnessed?"

Peter lowered his voice and asked him.

He knew that Tom's past in the orphanage of Hogwarts was not happy, but Tom never went into the details.

Tom took a deep breath, as if he had made up his mind.

His gaze drifted into the void, as if lost in distant memories.

“Before coming to the farm, Dad, you know, I lived in the Woods Orphanage in London.”

Tom's voice rang out calmly, as if he were telling someone else's story.

“From the time I can remember, I was different from others. I could talk to snakes in the grass, I could use my mind to make annoying toys fly onto other people’s heads, and I could make those who bullied me have nightmares… Other children were afraid of me. At first, they disliked and rejected me, but later, it turned into real fear.”

"And do you know that, Father?"

Tom's lips curled into a self-deprecating smile. "I found myself actually... starting to enjoy this fear, enjoying the way they cowered when they looked at me, enjoying the way they trembled because of my thoughts, the feeling of controlling other people's emotions... as sweet as poison."

Peter listened in silence, his brow furrowed.

He could imagine the scenario: how a child born with immense power would be distorted by the power itself and the reactions of those around them in an environment lacking proper guidance.

"Later, the orphanage organized a trip to the cliffs by the sea."

Tom continued speaking, his tone completely flat.

“I noticed a cave, a very secluded cave, constantly being battered by the waves, it… seemed to be calling to me, a cold, deathly call.”

“No normal route is possible; the tides and waves are natural barriers, but that’s not a problem for me.”

Tom paused for a moment, then continued, "Later, I had two other children, Amy Benson and Dennis Bishop, follow me to 'discover' the secret path and enter the cave."

Tom paused for a long time after saying this.

His eyes became somewhat vacant, as if he were seeing the scene from that time again.

What's in the cave?

Peter asked in a low voice, already having a bad feeling.

"……dark."

Tom's voice turned low. "It's not just darkness in light, it's... a solidified, viscous darkness filled with despair and pain, where something is hidden, a lot of things."

Tom didn't describe it in detail, and Peter didn't ask him what he had seen.

However, based on Peter's understanding of the Harry Potter universe, he guessed that the cave was most likely the same type of cave that Dumbledore took Harry into when they went to find the Horcruxes.

The cave Harry entered contained the Slytherin locket that Regulus Black had replaced, and was guarded by a large number of invisibles created by dark magic.

During his childhood, Tom accidentally stumbled into a mysterious cave.

And Tom, that brat, may very well have witnessed firsthand the undead created by dark magic.

"After we came out of the cave."

Tom's voice pulled Peter back to reality. "Amy and Denise, they can no longer say anything about the cave. Fear has destroyed a part of their minds. The trauma is indescribable, beyond the reach of reason."

"They were kept in the psychiatric ward of the hospital afterward, and I'm afraid they never recovered until I left this world."

Tom slowly raised his head and looked at Peter. His face was somewhat pale, but his eyes were unusually clear and cold.

“Father, that was the darkness I had ever witnessed. It was not the description in the magic book, nor the attack of the enemy, but the most primitive, ugliest, and most disgusting death and desecration itself. It was the silent screams and despair of countless innocent people being twisted into monsters.”

“From that moment on, I knew what darkness looked like, and I also understood how ridiculous and insignificant it was to indulge in the sense of control that comes from power and creating fear, in the face of true, absolute darkness.”

"And the reason I chose 'light'."

Tom's tone softened a bit. "It's because I came here, to the farm, Dad. You gave me an unprecedented level of acceptance and guidance, letting me know that power can be used to protect, not just to create fear, and to give, not just to take. This light and warmth is the yardstick by which I measure all darkness."

He looked at Peter again, his eyes filled with utmost seriousness: "I absorbed the Eclipse not out of greed or arrogance. I know its dangers. It is precisely because I have witnessed deeper darkness that I am confident that I can discern its allure."

“I just want to be able to stand by your side when you need me, instead of just passively watching. The knowledge of the Dark Book and the power of the Eclipse are tools, dangerous tools, but I believe I can wield them.”

A long silence fell over the study.

Peter looked at the gifted, deep-thinking, yet incredibly complex brat in front of him.

His anger had mostly subsided.

He never imagined that Tom had such a past, nor did he expect that his motive for absorbing the Eclipse was so "noble".

This kid isn't trying to fool himself with nice things, is he?

No, probably not.

Looking at Tom's serious expression, Peter figured the kid wasn't just flattering him.

After all, he had been by my side for so long, and I knew him well.

Although he didn't approve of Tom's actions, Peter couldn't simply accuse Tom of "arrogance" and "conceit" at this moment.

He discovered that Tom's inner world was far more complex and dark than he had imagined.

Peter sighed deeply, rubbed his temples, and felt a deep weariness.

These troublesome kids, each one of them is a handful.

"Give me the Heart of Darkness."

After a moment of silence, Peter said to Tom with a serious expression, "As for the power of the Eclipse, I will have Zatanna and Constantine come over. You are not allowed to use it lightly until you have truly learned how to control it, otherwise..."

As he spoke, Peter's gaze grew increasingly stern.

Tom looked at the unyielding authority in Peter's eyes, remained silent for a moment, and finally nodded slowly.

He reached out, and the dark crystal in his left eye shimmered slightly. A fragment of the Heart of Darkness, shrunk countless times and resembling a black diamond, appeared in his palm and was handed to Peter.

Peter took the ominous fragment and sealed it away layer by layer with his powerful divine strength.

After Tom left, Peter looked down at his watch with mixed feelings.

The system indicates that the next person to experience fatherly sorrow is about to arrive.

As these mischievous kids grow up, each of them develops more and more ideas, and the farm is bound to become increasingly unsettled.

(End of this chapter)