Chapter 58: Mutants

I'M BACK BITCHES! AND MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Hey guys, long time no see. Here's a gift for you today. I'm sorry for not updating for so long, but I didn't have much choice since this whole month was full due to my studies. I just finished all of my exams and now it's winter break therefore I'll have time to update my fanfics.

Anyways, here's a chapter and don't forget to leave comments!

Peace!

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February 8th, 2008 started with a warm winter morning.

*Beep-Beep-Beep* *click*

The alarm clock went off when the time reached 7:00 AM. The annoying beeping was soon interrupted by a hand reaching out from under the blanket of a bed and pressing the mute button.

A comfortable silence reigned in the room as the blanket was moved away and revealed a drowsy Isaiah Sharpe-soon-to-be-Stark. The boy yawned as he wiped the sleep away from his eyes. He looked out of the window and could see the morning sun shining on the Pacific Ocean outside his room.

"Good morning, sir Isaiah. I see that you are awake. It pleases me to see you well after early morning events. " Jarvis's voice could be heard.

Isaiah smiled. Even after living with the A.I. for almost a year, he could never stop being amazed by the technological masterpiece. His father had truly invented something incredible.

"Good morning to you too, Jarvis," Isaiah replied and got off the bed,

"How is everybody?" the boy asked.

"Sir is working on a project in the dining while Miss Potts is making breakfast. Mr. Hogan has just finished his gym routine and went to clean himself up.

Isaiah raised an eyebrow at the mention of Pepper making breakfast.

"Don't we have the machines for breakfast? Why would Ms. Pepper be making breakfast?"

"Ms. Potts volunteered to make breakfast. She said and I quote: "You boys do not know how to eat proper breakfast. Only peanut butter and bread or eggs and simply coffee are not always the solutions." End of the quote," Jarvis replied with a record of Pepper's voice.

"There is also the fact that our machines are not advanced enough to make the meals she intended to make. At least, that is what she says." the artificial intelligence finished.

Isaiah didn't know if Jarvis was offended or not. Kinda hard to tell with an A.I. For almost the whole year he started living with his father, Isaiah had noticed that, while Pepper was his dad's secretary, she seemed to do more than what secretaries usually do like cooking for their boss and his child.

'Or is that really their job?' the boy thought.

But he digressed and turned toward the bathroom.

"Alright, I'll wash up before joining them in the living room."

"Shall I inform them of you being awake, sir?"

The boy shook his head,

"No, since I'll join them anyways."

"Very well."

Isaiah stretched himself and went into the bathroom. After brushing his teeth, he went to take a hot shower and relax. The whole week was full of exciting events and times like this were bliss. As he stood under the hot running water, he thought about what happened last night.

His Reality Marble has finally been fully formed.

He could immediately feel like something had changed inside of him. He couldn't quite tell what changed therefore he performed a small test.

'Root, Shine'

His magic circuits opened, and Isaiah simply circulated his mana through him and let out a small smirk. His mana circulation felt smoother than before. Dipping into his reserves, he cast a spell.

'Water ball.'

A portion of the shower's running water detached itself from its normal path and formed a ball above the boy's hand. Although this spell didn't require a lot of mana since it used an external source, he could feel a slight decrease in the spell's mana consumption.

'I should test it out later.'

He stopped the mana flow into the spell and the water ball dropped on the shower's floor with a small splash.

15 minutes later, Isaiah stepped out of the bathroom with his towel wrapped around his waist and headed for the wardrobe closet. He picked out a gray long-sleeve shirt, rolled the sleeves up, and black trousers. He then headed for the living room.

As he entered the dining room, he saw his father working on his laptop at the table with a cup of half-finished coffee. In the kitchen, Pepper was cooking something called an English breakfast.

"Good morning, everyone."

Both adults turned around and saw the pre-teen enter the dining room.

"Hey, kid/ Good morning, Isaiah."

"How'd you sleep?" asked Tony asked.

"I was fine. Although, I do feel a little different."

Tony raised an eyebrow before frowning,

"Are you okay? Is it because of yesterday? Do I need to call your teacher?"

Isaiah shook his head,

"No, nothing like that. They seem more like positive changes like the fact that my mana seems to flow better for one, " the boy replied and sat beside the older man at the table. "It's probably because my Reality Marble is fully formed now."

Tony scoffed,

"Right. We still need to talk about that. I woke up this morning thinking last night was all a fever dream."

"Hehehe."

At that moment, Happy came into the dining room wearing his bodyguard uniform.

"Good morning, Happy!" Isaiah said.

The man saw the boy and grinned,

"Good morning, kid. Last night, you gave us quite the scare even if I don't know what happened." Happy said while ruffling Isaiah's hair.

"That he did, and we are going to talk about it later. First, let's eat breakfast," Pepper said as she brought four plates of English breakfast to the table.

Isaiah saw the large plate consisting of potatoes, baked beans, eggs, bacon strips, and much more. It was a full English breakfast.

Twenty minutes later, Isaiah picked up the plates and handed them to a robot who later put them in the dishwasher while the adults went into the living room.

It was now time for the meeting. As soon as Isaiah joined them, A portal opened up in the living room from which the Ancient One walked out.

"Good morning, Teacher!" Isaiah was the first to say this before giving the teacher a quick hug.

The latter reciprocated and gently patted his head,

"I guess it is morning here. Good morning to you Isaiah."

The woman then turned to the adults,

"And to you as well," she told them.

They reciprocated and the Ancient One took a seat.

"Now that everyone is here, we can now start talking since we have many things to discuss."

Fiona turned to Tony and Isaiah,

"Why don't we start with you? Something tells me you've had quite the adventure."

Tony pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed while letting out a tiny smirk. On the other hand, Isaiah grinned widely.

"My Reality Marble finally manifested!" the boy exclaimed.

Fiona raised an eyebrow in surprise before turning to Tony,

"Truly?"

"Look, I don't know what a Reality Marble is. I only know that I was transported into his inner world or something according to a female Leonardo."

"Huh?" Happy let out incredibly confused.

Pepper then interjected,

"For those, who don't know. Do you mind explaining this Reality... Marble, is it? Whatever that is?"

Fiona looked at Isaiah,

"Isaiah?"

Happy to explain, the boy then proceeded to tell them what he meant.

"A Reality Marble or an Innate Bounded Field is projection and materialization of the inner world in my soul onto reality."

"What do you mean?" asked Happy

"I have a world inside my soul which was developing since I started learning magic. As of yesterday night, I was capable enough to materialize it which was why we disappeared."

Pepper pinched the bridge of her nose,

"So you're telling me you have a whole new world inside your soul."

"Hah!" Tony pointed at her.

The latter glared at the man,

Isaiah giggled,

"Yeah!"

"So how was it?" asked Happy.

"It was amazing! I met a bunch of people and I have my own huge castle!" the boy said while spreading his arms.

"People?" asked Fiona.

"Yeah. As much as I want to be, I'm no expert in magic. But I'm pretty sure people don't have other people inside of their souls much less worlds. And you wouldn't believe what kind of people they were. They were anything but ordinary."

"Legends."

The attention turned to Fiona who was holding her chin in contemplation.

"How did you know, Teacher!?"

"After the battle of Stonehenge, Master Minoru told you that a certain Irish Hero possessed you and defeated the demon. You then explained to me that you learned to summon him by reciting the incomplete version of the aria meant for your Reality Marble which was also incomplete at the time. After thinking about your explanation of Reality Marbles, I figured there was more to it than simply summoning the hero. Was I wrong?"

Isaiah shook his head,

"Nope! You wanna know whom I met?" Isaiah asked excitedly.

His enthusiasm was so contagious that the adults couldn't help but smile along with him.

"Go on," the teacher said.

"When I woke up, I met Cú Chulainn, Iskandar, Gilgamesh, Nero Claudius, and Artoria Pendragon. I then met Enkidu and William Shakespeare."

"Oh, so you met literal legends!" Happy replied before adopting a confused expression. "Although, who's Artoria Pendragon? I've heard of Arthur Pendragon, but not Artoria. Some female version of Arthur?" he said with humor.

"Yup!"

"Huh?" Pepper and Happy couldn't help, but let out.

Fiona simply raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, for some reason, Artoria and Nero were women."

"Are you serious?" asked Pepper.

"Uh-huh! Yeah, they were born women but were depicted as men in their world."

Tony then spoke,

"I also met a woman who was supposed to be a man. But she or he, I don't know, turned themselves into a woman."

"Who?" asked the Sorcerer Supreme.

"Leonardo da Vinci."

"No way!" exclaimed Happy.

"Yes way. I kid you not. She said something about searching for the perfect representation of beauty and then turned herself into a living and breathing version of the Mona Lisa. I must admit she is very beautiful." Tony ended with an appreciative note.

Unknown to him, Pepper was glaring at him slightly.

"Man, I wish I could've met them." Happy said.

"I could take you there sometime, Happy," Isaiah said.

"Really?"

"Yeah. In fact, I can show you how they look, right now."

"How?"

"Like this."

Isaiah closed his eyes and clasped his hands in a prayer form before separating them. Motes of orange and gold formed between them and, when he spread his arms, they flew into the air where arcs of magic appeared. Suddenly, the motes gathered into multiple groups before morphing into the people Isaiah had met in the Kingdom of Mysteries.

"Wow." Pepper let out as she saw the illusions of the living legends in front of her.

"They're beautiful." Happy said as he saw Nero, Artoria, and Leonardo, "Is there some sort of beauty standard to be a myth?"

"I know, right?" Tony replied.

Isaiah then snapped his fingers and the illusions faded into nothingness,

"And does your inner world have a name?" asked Fiona.

"Yeah. It's called the Kingdom of Mysteries."

"If it's the kingdom, whose the king?" Happy asked.

"Who do you think?" Tony deadpanned.

Happy looked at Isaiah,

"Oh. Well, greetings your Majesty." Happy said with a slight bow.

Everyone chuckled,

"Anyways, we have gone off track. Now that we have talked about last night's incident, we must now talk about the consequences."

The atmosphere turned serious,

"Oh yeah, you talked about Charles Xavier sensing us or something? How and what's going to happen from now on?"

Fiona remained silent,

"Well, from now on, I will not involve myself." she finally said.

"Huh? Why Teacher?" Isaiah looked at her confused.

Fiona looked at Isaiah,

"Because it won't be a matter of magic, but a matter of mutants. I'm sure you all know what a mutant is."

Everyone nodded,

"They're people with special abilities who awakened naturally, right?" Pepper asked.

"That's right. Since it is not a matter of magic, I won't be involving myself since it concerns the mundane world. If it were a simple case of a portal opening, we would be the ones dealing with it, but Isaiah's case is different."

"How so?" asked Tony.

"In Isaiah's case, since it's a projection and sterilization of his inner world, instead of just affecting the physical world, he also affected the astral world. From the effects I have witnessed, it's like a beacon in the astral world, which was how Isaiah was noticed by Mister Xavier."

"Are you saying, Mister Xavier's powers can also affect the Astral Realm?" asked Isaiah.

"It's more like he can access it using his powers. I have witnessed him in the astral realm when he searched for mutants around the world. Although, he couldn't sense me since I'm more powerful." Fiona said with a shrug.

Although, it looked more like a brag.

"But last night, you said Isaiah was a mutant, what was that about?" Tony asked.

"I was thinking about it too. Ever since I have taken him under my wing, I have witnessed Isaiah's progress in his learning capabilities. Did you know, when he was ten years old, he repaired an analog clock after just hearing the way it ticked?"

Tony, Pepper, and Happy looked at the boy impressed,

"Really?"

"Yes, He then took it apart before examing the clock. In a few seconds, he learned how it worked, found the problem, and repaired it all in the span of five minutes. And he never learned how clocks worked before."

"Hehehe." Isaiah simply giggled.

Tony grinned,

"Of course, he's a genius. He takes after me. Besides, clocks are fairly basic to understand."

"What if I were to tell you he did the same with more complicated machines such as computers, microwaves, ovens, and more? He never learned how they worked before."

"For real?"

Fiona nodded,

"After seeing such a feat, I tried to make him do the same with other stuff therefore I brought back to him, multiple broken machines people had thrown away for him to repair. And you know what? He did them all."

Tony turned serious,

"Are you saying his mutant ability has something to do with understanding things?"

" It's more like it allows me to instantly understand the complexity and exactness of organisms, objects, etc. without the need for long-term or special education," Isaiah explained.

"That's... That's actually incredible." Tony said.

"Yeah," Pepper added.

"Using that ability to his advantage, Isaiah has learned all of the math and sciences up to the university level and he's still learning," Fiona said.

They all heard laughing and turned to Tony who had a hand to his face.

"HAHAHAHAHA!"

Once he calmed down, he spoke,

"You know I graduated from MIT at the age of seventeen "Summa Cum Laude". Isaiah here might be more incredible than me."

Isaiah raised an eyebrow,

"You don't think it's cheating?" asked the boy.

"Cheating? How?"

"I mean I used my ability to learn all that."

"Isaiah. It is still your ability. I don't know if you were luckier than others considering what you had gone through to obtain your powers, but it is your own ability. And you took advantage of your resources. It would be a whole other story if it was not yours." Tony said.

Isaiah nodded.

"Indeed. I have confirmed that this ability was not magical in nature therefore I can only conclude it to be a mutant ability. Which is why I won't be involving myself with matters of mutants and the mundane world unless it threatens the world itself."

She then held up her hand to Isaiah who wanted to speak,

"Let me finish first."

the boy nodded,

"However, I can say two things. First, is to trust your instincts. And second, is to not trust your mind unless you have a way to protect it." She said before turning to Tony.

The latter raised an eyebrow before realizing what she was talking about.

"Oh, you're talking about that?"

Fiona smirked,

"You can ask Isaiah for help."

"But Teacher, are you not going to help up."

Fiona placed a hand on Isaiahxs head,

"I can't. This time, you must make the decision by yourself. I won't always be there for you since I also have other responsibilities. I'm already stretching it by favoring you like this, you know."

Isaiah nodded,

"Besides, it's not like you are alone, you have your family with you to help you."

Isaiah tilted his head,

"You're my family too."

Fiona chuckled gently,

"I know, but I can't always be with you. You have to make decisions by yourself too. You'll turn thirteen this year which means you will become a teenager. And like I said before, I can't involve myself with the mundane world."

"I'm pretty sure mutants are anything, but normal." Happy muttered.

Isaiah nodded,

"Okay teacher."

"Good boy."

Fiona turned to the adults,

"Now I must return to my post."

"Wait. Can you tell us when they'll come?" Tony asked.

Fiona shook her head,

"I can't tell you when, but expect a visit soon in the next few days. Good bye everyone and have a nice day."

They bid their farewells and the Ancient One went back to Kamar-Taj leaving the four in the living room.

The room remained quiet after the sorceress's departure. It was then Happy spoke,

"So what's going to happen now?"

Tony interlaced his fingers and looked at Pepper,

"Pepper."

The woman straightened herself when she heard Tony use his "boss voice".

"Yes?"

"I need you to find anything on Charles Xavier and that school of his. you can use Happy's help for that."

Pepper nodded while Happy replied with a "Yes, sir!"

Tony then turned to Isaiah,

"Kid."

"Yeah, Dad?"

"Can you do your magic thing to sense him or something?"

The boy however shook his head,

"No. The power I felt was stronger than my own mental power. I can't track it down."

Tony nodded,

"Then can you recreate this?" he asked as he took off the bracelet from his hand.

The boy saw the mental resistance bracelet and nodded,

"That I can do." the boy said as he took the bracelet and went to his room to work on it. It would be easy to reproduce it, but he wasn't the one to create it therefore he was unfamiliar with the formation needed and wanted to take this opportunity to learn it.

"What's that?" Pepper asked intrigued.

"It's a bracelet meant for mental resistance apparently. It would be helpful when we meet Charles Xavier."

Pepper raised an eyebrow,

"You mean he can read our minds?" she asked.

"That's something you'll have to look into. Make sure nobody finds out."

The woman nodded and got up from the sofa.

"Very well. Leave it to me."

"Me too, Boss."

Tony nodded and smirked,

"Thanks."

Once Happy and Pepper went off to work, Tony leaned back and sighed,

"I didn't want anyone to know about Isaiah just yet and some super telepath found out about him. What has my life turned into?"

He turned toward a framed picture of his father,

"Right, Dad?"

***

Thousands of kilometres away, inside a large spherical room, one could see an old bald man in a futuristic-looking wheelchair wearing some sort of sophisticated helmet attached to a console with some wires. He had his eyes closed as if he was concentrating. Behind him, was a large beast with blue fur. However, what was strange was that the beast stood on its two legs. It wore a lab coat as well as glasses and was silently observing the older man.

Five minutes later, the old man exhaled loudly before removing the helmet and placing it on a stand beside the console. The beast pushed its glasses back and spoke,

"So, Professor? Did you find the source of the disturbance?" What came out of its mouth was the voice of a man.

The man in the wheelchair nodded before frowning.

"Yes, Hank. I believe I did. However, there seems to be a problem."

"A problem?"

"Yes. According to Cerebro, we did indeed find a new mutant. It appears that their power appears to be a mental ability."

"A telepath, sir?"

"I could not be sure. But it was trickier to find them. But that was not the problem."

"Then, what is, sir?"

"Their location."

"Location? Are they in danger?" asked Hank worried.

Despite his inhuman form, Hank or Hank McCoy was a human man with several PHDs in Biophysics and Genetics. However, he was also a mutant. He was born with abnormal feet resembling more like monkeys than chimpanzees. He also had a different physic than a normal human. Due to his desire to be normal, he developed a serum and injected himself with it. However, his body started to resist the effects of the serum and his powers grew uncontrollable. He was then offered help by another man like him: a mutant.

That very man was the older man sitting in the wheelchair: Professor Charles Xavier otherwise known as Professor X. Seeing that Hank had trouble keeping his powers under control, he offered him a place in his Institute called Xavier's School for the Gifted Youngsters. He offered the younger man a teaching position and supported him in his research to find a way to revert himself back to his human form.

And on February 9th, 2008, early in the morning, Cerebro detected an unusual energy pattern resembling that of a mutant which led to the events right now.

Professor Xavier shook his head,

"They don't seem to be in danger, but I cannot say for sure since I am unable to read their mind from here."

Hank raised his eyebrows in surprise,

"Really? You couldn't read their mind. That's unusual, is that the problem? But you told me it was their location?"

"That is not really a problem per se since it's probably part of their power, but-" Xavier turned toward the console, "Cerebro, could you show the location of the mutant found?"

"Certainly," a female robotic voice responded.

A giant hologram of the Earth formed. It then zoomed into the USA, then into California, before settling into Malibu. The location showed a point on the coast of the Pacific Ocean right by the Point Dume State Marine Reserve.

"Do recognize this location?"

Hank looked at the map before exclaiming,

"Isn't that the residence of the famous Tony Stark!?"

"Exactly. Do you see the problem?"

"I see. But that's can't be right. Tony Stark never exhibited any mutation?"

Xavier nodded,

"That's true. And he still doesn't have any powers. But it appears he has a new resident in his home."

Hank's eyes widened,

"No. A child!?"

"Yes. It appears Mr. Stark has a child and no one knows about it. It's quite impressive he manages to keep it a secret if we go by his personality."

"So what are we going to do, sir?"

"We must go see him. He may not know what is happening to him and this Institute was made just for kids like him. Besides, as much of a genius as Mr. Stark is, I believe the subject of mutants is outside of his expertise. We could inform him about his child's situation."

"Then who should we send?"

"I believe I will go this time due to the delicate situation. I will also bring Logan and Mrs. Munroe along."

Hank nodded before adopting a pensive look,

"What is it, Hank?" the professor asked.

"May I suggest something?"

"Go on."

"I suggest you bring with you a student with you."

"Really? Why?"

"Just like you said, due to the delicate situation, I believe we must also talk with Mr. Stark. Bringing a student around the age of his child could help him understand the situation."

Xavier stroked his chin,

"You are right. I believe young Jean and Scott will be the right choices."

Hank nodded,

"You are right, sir."

"Very well. We will fly to Malibu at 10 AM. Prepare the jet while I will inform the others."

"Yes sir."

Both men exited the room and went to prepare in order to visit the young mutant. Little did they know, Isaiah was more than just a simple mutant.