As a furious roar shook the very heart of Queens, a bald man in Westchester County who was resting after a long day of running a school snapped awake, his eyes bloodshot and a cold sweat glistening on his forehead.
"What on earth was that? So much rage!"
He had not felt such a potent psychic roar since the day when he first met Jean Grey.
Charles Xavier sat up from his bed with a grunt, his limp legs folded over one another for ease of movement.
Next to his bed was an electric wheelchair, which he promptly hopped into, his elderly figure fitting snugly into its custom-built frame.
He rolled out into the hall and moved quickly towards the deep, secretive underground floor of the school until he came upon a massive door that appeared thick enough to effectively resist nuclear weapons.
The center of the door emanated a blue scanning light that swept downwards and back up before settling on Xavier's eyes.
Xavier's ears twitched as he heard the distinctive click and slide of the massive locking mechanism that kept all but the most trusted in the school from entering.
The door opened inward, revealing a massive spherical room and a singular platform that ran from the door towards the center.
Xavier rolled into the room, an urgency in his eyes as he beheld the device at the center, along with the helmet that would amplify the reach and potency of his psionic powers.
He placed the Cerebro helmet onto his bald head and closed his eyes, his focus sharpening as he began to feel the minds of every living being within the school.
Xavier pushed his focus further, his psionic power expanding from the school to encompass the entirety of Westchester County before once more expanding to encompass New York.
His powerful mind brushed gently against millions of people both asleep and awake, until his mind brushed something odd coming from Queens.
"Hmmm how odd, not a human but also..."
Xavier focused on a particularly empty alley where the mental silhouette of two people appeared to him in full.
"An older gentleman and a tailed child..."
He made a mental note about this and continued to search for any traces of that massive spike of psionic rage, but after nearly an hour, Xavier found nothing and pulled off the Cerebro helmet with an exasperated sigh.
He rolled out of the Cerebro room with a thoughtful expression on his face, but suddenly he felt a mind touch his own.
"Professor, are you okay? You don't usually wake up this early!"
Xavier realized that it was Jean Grey, his psychic protege.
"I'm okay Jean, I just felt a psychic pulse coming from Queens and decided to investigate..."
He pressed his fingers into his eyes, as if he was already mentally tired.
"When Scott wakes up have him take me for a drive, I may have found a new mutant!"
Jean's mind retreated after a mental nod, leaving Xavier to his own thoughts.
Several hours later the sun began to crest over the horizon, casting a warm, inviting glow over the city which glimmered like myriad jewels in response.
Tavor woke up from the warm glow coming from a nearby window and sat up sharply after realizing that he was somewhere unfamiliar.
However, after looking around, he found a familiar older man sleeping in a wooden chair, tilting precariously as if he could fall from the seat at any moment.
GRUUUUUUGGGGHHHH...
Tavor's stomach roared like a starving beast, shocking the old man awake suddenly.
Ben smiled warmly as he took in the puffy eyed child.
"Are you hungry? How about some breakfast?"
Ben reached over and picked Tavor up before heading out the door and into the living room. The smell of eggs, bacon, and cinnamon toast wafted into Tavor's nose, causing him to drool onto Ben's arm.
"Hey... Hey, don't drool on me, oh dear..."
Ben placed Tavor onto a chair and went over to hug a woman working on the food at the stove, delivering soft, warm kisses to her neck and cheek.
"It smells amazing, you already have the boy drooling... Just look at my arm!"
He showed her his arm which was still covered in saliva and the woman stared in shock for a moment before turning towards Tavor.
FFFFTTT...
FFFFTTT...
FFFFTTT...
A series of quickened footsteps echoed from the wooden staircase, and Tavor turned around to find an older teenager performing an agile maneuver as he descended the stairs and landed with an almost theatrical flourish.
"Peter... What have I told you about running down the stairs?" The woman narrowed her eyes as she scolded Peter.
"D... Don't do it?" Peter lowered his head in shame and noticed the strange child sitting at the table.
"Aunt May? Did you give birth recently?" Peter asked, a look of mild confusion on his face.
Aunt May rolled her eyes. "Hahaha... No, Ben brought him home last night, we think he may have been abandoned!"
Uncle Ben's expression turned dark for a moment as he remembered the fateful encounter, especially when the child suddenly turned into a massive ape.
"I wonder what exactly happened last night, that was terrifying, but he seems like such a sweet child!"
As Uncle Ben was thinking about the previous night, Aunt May placed a couple of eggs, three slices of bacon, and cinnamon toast cut in triangles on a plate and placed it before Tavor, whose eyes shined with hunger.
Before Aunt May could even turn around, Tavor began devouring the food on the plate with a quickness that practically defied physics, the plate emptying within moments before Tavor looked sadly at the empty plate.
GRUUUUUUGGGGHHHH...
Peter stared in amazement at Tavor. "Where does it all go?"
Aunt May refilled his plate, this time with double the amount, before sitting in an opposite chair and watching as Tavor began devouring the food.
It was then that she noticed the tail behind him swishing back and forth happily.
Aunt May let out a stifled gasp before giving a questioning glance at Uncle Ben.
However, before she could ask any of the many questions on her mind, a knocking sound came from the door.
Aunt May turned towards the door and stood up from her seat, and along with Uncle Ben, walked towards the front door.
The door opened with a soft creak revealing a young man with strange red sunglasses and a bald elderly man in a wheelchair.
Hello Sir and Madam, my name is Charles Xavier and I run the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning. May we have a chat about your recent ward?
Aunt May and Uncle Ben stared at each other, a tacit conversation before turning back towards Charles.
"Please come in Mr Xavier, would you like some breakfast?"
Xavier shook his head. "No thanks, but if you have some tea I'll take a cup."
Aunt May and Uncle Ben stepped aside, allowing Scott to push the professor's wheelchair inside.
The first thing Xavier noticed was that a tailed child was sitting at the table with his mouth open while a teenager was throwing bits of cinnamon toast into it.
Even when the teen missed, the child managed to swiftly catch the piece.
He noticed the tail and smiled warmly. "This is the child.
Xavier reached out with his mind.
"Hello little one, my name is Charles Xavier and I'm here to meet you!"
Tavor blinked several times as the strange voice echoed inside his head.
The child looked around the room in confusion.
There was no one standing behind him.
No one hiding beneath the table.
Yet he had clearly heard a voice.
His dark eyes settled on the bald man in the wheelchair.
The strange man.
The voice had come from him.
Tavor tilted his head to one side.
"...?"
Xavier smiled gently.
The child's confusion was almost palpable.
Unlike most young mutants, there was no immediate response.
No thoughts reaching back toward him.
No emotional outburst.
Just simple confusion.
Fascinating.
Xavier withdrew his telepathic touch before offering a reassuring smile.
"It appears I've startled him."
Peter snorted.
"You think?"
Tavor promptly stuffed an entire piece of cinnamon toast into his mouth.
Peter pointed dramatically.
"See? That's the face of somebody who just got startled."
Scott pinched the bridge of his nose.
Xavier chuckled softly before turning toward Ben and May.
"Mr. and Mrs. Parker, would it be possible for us to speak privately?"
The smile faded slightly from Ben's face.
Aunt May glanced toward the professor before nodding.
"Of course."
She turned toward Peter.
"Keep an eye on him."
Peter looked down at Tavor.
Tavor looked up at Peter.
A moment passed.
Another.
"How hard can that be?"
The second the words left Peter's mouth, Tavor grabbed six pieces of toast at once.
Peter immediately pointed.
"I take it back."
Ben, May, Xavier, and Scott moved into the adjoining living room.
The moment they sat down Xavier's expression became considerably more serious.
"I apologize for arriving unannounced."
Ben folded his hands together.
"That's alright."
Xavier nodded.
"I'll be direct then."
His gaze shifted briefly toward the dining room where Tavor continued to devour breakfast with alarming efficiency.
"I believe the child may possess extraordinary abilities."
The room fell silent.
Aunt May looked confused.
Ben, however, felt his stomach tighten.
Xavier noticed immediately.
"Mr. Parker?"
Ben swallowed.
The images from the previous night surfaced in his mind.
The roar.
The shattered glass.
The crimson eyes.
The enormous ape towering over the city streets.
The way the ground shook beneath every step.
The sound of bones breaking when the thug had been struck.
A cold sweat began forming across Ben's forehead.
Xavier continued carefully.
"My school specializes in helping gifted children."
"Gifted?" May asked.
"In many cases, yes."
Xavier folded his hands in his lap.
"Some children possess abilities that make traditional schooling difficult."
Scott nodded.
"Very difficult."
Xavier shot him a look.
Scott cleared his throat.
"Sometimes dangerous."
Ben immediately remembered Tavor's gigantic hand closing around the trash can.
The helpless terror on the thug's face.
The thunderous roars.
Dangerous felt like an understatement.
Xavier leaned forward slightly.
"My institute provides an education unavailable through most public schools."
May seemed intrigued.
"A private school?"
"In a sense."
Xavier smiled.
"We teach mathematics, science, literature, history..."
He paused.
"...and how to control unusual abilities."
The smile slowly disappeared from Ben's face.
"You know something."
Xavier met his eyes.
"I know enough."
Silence settled over the room.
Finally Ben exhaled.
"What exactly are you saying?"
Xavier's voice remained calm.
"I'm saying that whatever happened last night may happen again."
Ben froze.
May immediately looked toward him.
"What happened last night?"
Ben opened his mouth.
Then closed it.
How was he supposed to explain it?
A giant monkey.
A child transforming beneath the moonlight.
A creature larger than a building.
None of it sounded sane.
Xavier spared him the effort.
"I sensed an enormous psychic disturbance."
His eyes drifted toward the dining room.
"It originated from that child."
May slowly sat down.
The concern in her eyes grew.
"You think he could lose control?"
"I think he already has."
The room became silent once more.
Meanwhile, completely oblivious to the serious conversation taking place nearby, Tavor reached for another piece of bacon.
Only to discover there was none left.
His eyes widened in horror.
The plate was empty.
Again.
Peter watched as genuine despair overtook the child's face.
"...you know what?"
Peter stood up.
"I'm making more bacon."
Instantly Tavor's expression brightened.
Peter pointed accusingly.
"That's the happiest I've seen anybody all morning."
Back in the living room, Xavier watched the exchange and smiled faintly.
Whatever the child truly was, one thing was clear.
At this moment...
He was still just a child.