Chapter 1: Joining a faction

Jasper looked down at the laptop in front of him, he hadn't touched it but it was open and browsing all types of websites, "Mother, you aren't doing something illegal right?" He asked his partner.

"Of course not dear, even if I'm heavily damaged, I still wouldn't do something illegal, especially not if it can come to bite you later on." His partner, Mother Box, replied telepathically.

Jasper lifted his gaze from the laptop to the TV. The news anchor was talking about the Stark industries and how it would fare now that Tony Stark was kidnapped. Jasper just sighed before turning off the TV.

It's been about 2 weeks since he found himself in this world, the world of Marvel. He knew that someone or something had somehow 'inserted' him here with some powers to make him be able to fight. And of course, he was given a heavily damaged Mother Box for help.

In those 2 weeks, he got to understand the powers he was given. He hadn't done much else in those 2 weeks otherwise because he didn't have any money needed to pay bills.

His mother was missing after a fight between the two, he didn't know where she was right now, only that she was some kind of supernatural human. Other than that? He was completely in the dark about things. Worse, his mother, from as back as he 'remembers', was obsessed with having a daughter. So, when he was born as a guy, his mother did everything in her power to make sure that he became a proper 'lady'.

Hence, he was stuck looking like a girl for the foreseeable future.

"Jasper dear, I managed to make you a bank account, we can finally begin to make some money without needing to make shady deals." Jasper nodded his head at that, they could finally make some money to pay bills and not have the police show up.

"How did you make me a bank account without doing something illegal?"

"Your mother's phone was left in the house when she left, so I just used that with your own information to open up the bank account. Though it took some time to make the request go through since you're still a minor."

Jasper nodded his head again, he didn't really understand the laws of this country. In his old world, he wasn't American and in this world, he didn't have the education needed. His mother had just put him as homeschooled but never bothered to teach him anything but what she thought he needed to make a proper 'lady'.

Thankfully, he could now still make money and continue to live in this house. He would've contacted the police about things but after knowing that he did have powers? It was another story entirely.

Jasper knew that mutants suffered in the Marvel Universe, he knew it was because some kind of virus was in the air that altered people's perception or something like that but he had no idea who had made the virus in the first place.

How did Jasper know that he was a mutant? A scan from the Mother Box was enough to determine that, especially compared to the surrounding people.

Of course, that wasn't all. Jasper didn't just need an education and some money to survive, he wasn't stupid enough to think that. He was given powers, that means that he will have to fight one day whether he likes it or not and that means he needs to prepare for that day.

The Mother Box also needed repairs, while something that it can do by itself, it needs materials to absorb to restore the damaged areas.

They had goals to work towards but no real plan in place. Most of the 2 weeks were spent with him waiting for Mother Box to try some repairs on itself with already existing materials in its storage space. But now, with a bank account set up, they could get money to buy more materials.

"Jasper dear," His Mother Box began speaking again, "It seems like we have visitors and they appear to be Mutants like you. Do you want me to find out who they are?" Jasper thought about it for a second, which mutant would be able to know that he's a mutant too?

"Please do so, I'm drawing a blank on who could be able to find me." He finally told his Mother Box. If it is someone he doesn't want to talk to, he'll just pretend not to be home.

It took the Mother Box barely 2 seconds before it came back with results, "It's 2 people outside, one man going by the name of Charles Xavier and a woman going by the name of Ororo Munroe."

Oh. It was Xavier. Right, he had his machine that could detect Mutants though Jasper wasn't sure how it worked. He had never been the biggest Marvel fan, so his knowledge wasn't exactly full of the lore of this world.

But he now needed to make a choice, either talk to Xavier and hear his offer or just ignore him. There were pros and cons with both of those decisions.

If he did talk to Xavier, other forces might notice him which Jasper really didn't want. That was to say if those forces hadn't already noticed him, in that case joining Xavier might actually be for the best.

Ignoring Xavier completely wouldn't change the chance of other factions having noticed him. It was stupid how Marvel functioned and Jasper didn't like it one bit. "Mother, what do you think I should do? Ignore Xavier or talk to him?"

The Mother Box paused for a moment, "Based on the knowledge that you have, it would seem to be in the best interest to talk to Xavier. You don't have the need to accept anything he offers but I think it would be best to hear him out, to at least give us an idea of what is going on in the outside world."

Jasper thought it made sense, getting at least an idea about the world he's in would be in his best interest. The chance about other factions finding him because of Xavier versus the chance of them already knowing about him is about a 50/50 in his opinion.

Though there was one thing that he wasn't so sure about, "And if they attack, would we be able to escape?" From what Jasper knew about Marvel's multiverse, depending on who wrote Xavier, he would be from a bumbling fool to a full on manipulative evil bastard that doesn't care about people.

He wasn't about to take chances that could be prevented.

"That can be prevented, I could both make a barrier and a Boom-Tube to escape. Of course, all that is if I can't sense their hostile intentions before they begin their attack." His Mother Box replied and Jasper nodded, it seems like his Box had everything figured out.

"If we're both not in any danger then let's wait for him to initiate contact first." And like he had thought, a few minutes later, someone rang the doorbell.

—

POV: Charles Xavier

Waiting outside the house they just buzzed, Charles could already tell things were somewhat wrong.

It all started 2 weeks ago when the Cerebro detected a new mutant but it had cut off just after the mutant was detected. Thankfully, they were able to locate the general area where Cerebro located the mutant.

Currently, Charles could tell why the Cerebro was cut off from sensing the new mutant, it was because they had some type of mind shield. He could sense it but didn't dare do anything more than that, if he tried to force himself into people's minds that would lead to catastrophic events.

He's already learned that lesson.

It wasn't long before the door was opened and a young, white haired lady came out. "Do you need something?" Her voice was soft but quite monotone.

Charles gave his best warm smile, "Excuse us for coming unannounced but we were hoping that we could talk to your parents if they were home." He knew that the young girl in front of him was the mutant, he could sense her mind shield.

The young lady shook her head, "My mom isn't home, but you can leave your message with me if you wish to." Ah, dart. Parents not being home is always a problem. They'll need to be even more careful now so that the young lady doesn't freak out on them.

He noticed that Ororo gave him a glance but didn't react. Still keeping up his smile, he tried again, "Right, do you know when your mother would hopefully come home? We wish to talk to her about something important concerning you." That would hopefully get the right message across.

Reaching into his inner suit pocket, he took out a business card, "This is my business card, you can call us whenever you wish to." The young lady stepped forward and took the card from his hand.

Charles could tell that she read through the card. "I don't know when my mom will come home, we fought 2 weeks ago and she hasn't been home since." That stunned him for a second. 2 weeks was the time of this young lady became a mutant, did the mother know that fact and tried to do something?

"But why would Charles Xavier want anything with me?" The young lady continued as she apparently missed them freezing up. "I know your research on mutants and stuff like that, do you think I'm a mutant too?"

Now, how should he go about this? Depending on his answer, things could go from smoothly to having to defend himself from a mutant attack. He finally decided to go with what is hopefully an answer that would keep the young lady curious about things. "We have reasons to suspect that you might be a mutant, we wish to know if you are one so that we could help you control your new-found abilities."

The strangest thing to Charles was how the young lady didn't have any outward reaction to things, almost like she was emotionless or just a husk. It was worrying on many levels.

Eventually, the young lady replied, "Why would you care if I'm a mutant? Or how to control my abilities?" Some good questions that would have him reveal things about himself to gain her trust.

"Do you mind if we talk inside? These topics aren't suited to be talked out in the public." He asked instead, hoping that they could at least talk in a private area. That and they would be drawing attention if they stayed in the doorway.

The young lady gave him a look before turning to look at Ororo and then finally nodding her head, "Please, come inside." With her stepping inside, Charles finally noticed that the girl was bare feet. Poor girl, it was quite the cold weather today and he had her stand out here.

Ororo walked in first before he dragged his wheelchair inside. He made sure to give Ororo a glare when she didn't take off her shoes. They made it through the hallway and into the living room where he immediately noticed a few things.

The place was a little messy, the laptop on the couch which was currently running, food that was left on the coffee table. Of course, he wasn't about to hold it against the young lady for having a messy place but it seems like she still needs someone to help her.

Obviously, that still leaves the question of where her mother went. Would that woman be so heartless to leave her own daughter like this for 2 whole weeks? No that was the wrong question to ask, it was better to ask if that woman abandoned her daughter when she triggered and became a mutant.

While he didn't know the full situation, he could judge by what he did know and that was the mother left her daughter in the house by herself after a fight between the two. That was a shitty way to be a parent if he was being honest, worse it looked like this wasn't the first time since the young lady hadn't even called the police.

The young lady sat down on the couch with the laptop, "Please, sit down and sorry about this mess, I didn't expect for someone to visit me." Ororo sat on the couch beside the young lady while he just parked his wheelchair in front of the young lady.

"No, no. We came unannounced, you don't have to worry about a thing."

The young lady nodded her head before she suddenly froze, Charles thought something happened when she spoke up, "I'm sorry, I forgot to give you my name when you introduced yourself. My name is Jasper Faye."

Charles swear dropped a little, that was a one way to make an introduction of yourself. But that was one unique name for a girl, he hadn't heard of it before used in that context.

Coughing in his hand, he nodded his head, "It's not worries, as you already know, I'm Charles Xavier and this is my companion, Ororo Munroe." Ororo nodded her head and he continued, "And to not take too much of your time, I'd like to get into the main topic of why we're here right away."

Seeing the nod from Miss Faye, Charles continued on, "As I said at the door, we have reasons to believe that you are a mutant and if we confirm that you are, I'd like to invite you to my school where you can develop your abilities without fear of people's judgment."

He stayed silent for a minute to let Miss Faye take in what he said, when he finally saw her nod, he continued on. "So Miss Faye, do you have any questions for me?"

She looked at him for a few seconds, "I just wish to know a couple of things," Charles nodded his head while his brain was trying to figure out if the monotone voice was a side effect of her powers or if it was something else completely. "Firstly, I want to know how you figured out that I was a mutant."

Ah. A good first question, one that he sadly can't answer without trusting her more. "I'm sorry but I can't answer that question right now, if you still wish to know you'll have to join us first."

Another few seconds of silence followed before another question, "I can accept that answer for now. Secondly, if I were to join your school, what benefits would I gain besides those you already said?"

"A full course of education with protection should anything happen to you while at school or outside. Of course, we have a building where you can both make friends with other mutants and train if you wish to."

Charles didn't know if Miss Faye had noticed or not but the questions she was asking basically said that she was a mutant. He wouldn't say anything for now though.

The young girl stared into space for a minute and Charles was really beginning to worry about Miss Faye. He was wondering if this was an application of her powers, making her seemingly emotionless because that blank look was not healthy.

"Last question from me, are you two mutants?" While he would've loved not to answer that question, it was best to be honest in this type of situation.

He looked straight into Miss Faye's eyes and nodded, "Yes, we are. Ever since I've become a mutant, I've made it my life mission to not let other mutants suffer. My other goal is to have Mutants and Humans live in peace together."

Miss Faye tilted her head for a second before nodding again, "You wish for the mutants you gather to fight for the same cause?"

Charles quickly shook his head at that question, "No, not at all. That's up to you to decide on. I just wish for you to live a happy life without the trauma of some people judging you based on your powers."

They sat in silence for a little while before Miss Faye was hopefully going over things. While that was happening, Charles was thinking over things, the power of Miss Faye was honestly intriguing on its own. A mind shield that won't let any thoughts or emotions be sensed by telepaths was a great thing to have.

He wasn't sure yet but he was pretty sure that illusions and mind control would be useless too, they'd have to test it of course but if that theory was true then that by itself was a great thing to have.

"I'd join you guys," Miss Faye finally began talking again, "But I can't, not without permission from an adult family member, something I don't have right now. You guys would be accused of kidnapping if the police ever found out about me. Which I believe they'll find out soon about since bills will have to be paid in 5 days from today."

The reason for not wanting to join them was more reasonable than Charles thought he'd get. Though what the young lady said was a concern that would have normal people back off but he wasn't a normal person, he was Charles Xavier and he had his ways.

"You don't need to worry about that, I know many good lawyers and with your mother leaving you for 2 weeks alone to fend for yourself without any supervision, we can make a case for neglectful parenting pretty easily."

"Are you sure about that? I don't really know the laws, but wouldn't the government try to make me live with my other relatives, if they're still alive or make me live with people who the government trusts?"

The questions Miss Faye kept asking showed that at least she had the intelligence to not believe everything she gets told which is better than what he could say about some other people. "No you don't have to worry about that either, my institution is pretty well known for taking in troubled people and I don't think the government would suddenly say no to another teenager."

"Well then," Miss Faye stood up from her seat, "If you already have everything figured out, you just need confrontation that I'm mutant to take me in?" Charles was about to nod but caught himself, that wasn't how someone like him should act.

Finally, he shook his head, "Even if you aren't a mutant, I'll still make sure that you'll get to live somewhere where you'll get actual care from your guardian. But it would be harder to make an argument on why you should come under my care."

"Oh. Okay that makes sense. I thought I needed to show you some cool powers or you'd just leave me here." He grimaced at that thought, there would be no way in hell that he'd do that. While his main goal was to have equality between humans and mutants, he wouldn't just ignore a child in need.

"So, how will you assess whether I'm a mutant or not?" At that question, Charles took out a device in his other suit pocket, it was a small DNA device that would tell if you had the X-gene and if it was activated.

Laying it on the coffee table, he began explaining the device, "To see if you have the X-gene and whether it has been activated. It was made by a scientist that lives at my estate." Miss Faye nodded her head as she stared at the device he had laid down. He might have just seen the reflection of light from the ceiling but he thought that her black eyes glowed for a second.

"So I just put a little bit of blood in there?" Miss Faye asked while walking towards the device.

Charles nodded his head while pointing at the white circle in the DNA device, "Just a drop of blood is enough."

The young lady suddenly froze, "I forgot that I don't have anything to draw blood with, I'll go grab a knife." Charles watched as Miss Faye took a turn to what he presumed was the kitchen. He shook his head after a little while, he wasn't sure if the girl was just naturally dramatic or just a klutz.

She returned a minute later with one big knife and he wasn't sure if he was being pranked. An emotionless looking girl walking towards you with a big knife will hopefully not haunt him in his sleep tonight.

Miss Faye finally cut her index finger with the knife and he wondered why not just get a needle but he wasn't about to say that out loud. With a drop of blood finally into the DNA device, it began to look through the DNA of the young lady and now they just had to wait for a minute or two.

"Please go put some band-aid on your finger while the device is still working." He told Miss Faye because her finger began bleeding. She nodded her head before going back to the kitchen while Ororo and him just waited until the device was finished.

2 minutes later and the DNA machine was done, and the result was what he already knew, Miss Faye being a mutant. "So, what does that machine of yours say Charles?" The young lady asked as she came back from the kitchen with a bandaged finger.

He didn't say anything on how the girl addressed him, chalking it up to her probably never really having a real adult to talk to outside her mother. "Well, the result came back and it says that you're a mutant."

"Okay, so does that mean you're going to take me to your place today or another day?"

"I'd love it for you to come with us today if all possible." He told her while picking up the DNA device that Hank built. "If you wish to, of course, we can always delay it for a few days if you have something you want to take care of."

"Oh no, I'd like to leave as soon as possible. In a few days the bills for this house will show up and I don't have the money to pay them." Charles sweat dropped at that but kept quiet. It was an honest worry but the expressionless face while saying that was just something he had never experienced in his life before.

"Then please, why don't you and Ororo here pack some clothes while I make a few phone calls to make sure that a lawsuit against your mother gets started?" At his nod, Ororo stood up and looked at Miss Faye.

"Sure, please follow me Ororo, I know where my mom has a suitcase hidden." Miss Faye walked around him and into the hallway with Ororo soon following suit. As for him, he took out his phone and began looking for his lawyer contact, he has a few calls to make.

—

It took them about an hour but they were done, Miss Faye had clothes to last her a few days until everything was settled and Charles had talked to different lawyers about Miss Faye's case. With all said and done, the case was already being filed, and the government now knew that the girl would be under his care until the court date.

Of course, because this was going so well, the world had to do something to make sure that they had a problem. Charles would have wished it was a problem with the government but instead while settling everything in the car, his old friend and rival. Erik Lehnsherr or better known to many as Magneto.

Charles really wanted to groan out loud after seeing Erik here. It goes without saying that both him and Ororo made sure to be ready for combat when seeing him and another person from his own group, Mystique.

He was about to say something, but Erik beat him to it, "I didn't come here to talk, old friend. I came here for one thing." He just pointed at Miss Faye and Charles sighed. That's what he had thought but at least thought that they'd get some pleasantries out of the way.

"Sorry dude, I'm not supposed to go with strangers." He gave Miss Faye a look after she said that she wasn't afraid but he chalked that up to not knowing who Erik was. "Have you tried not threatening people? It's supposed to work great if you're friendly enough."

Repressing his urge to laugh, he watched as Erik slowly lowered his hand with a dumbfounded look on his face. Seeing even Mystique look perplexed was a nice thing that he'll remember for a long time.

He suddenly felt it as Erik lifted his left hand and with it Miss Faye started to float, it was just that before he or Ororo could react, a force field suddenly enveloped the girl before something shot out from the field directly at Erik himself.

A small explosion happened and that set them off. Ororo took off into the air while storm clouds began to gather, Mystique took off against Charles himself but he wasn't unprepared as he put a telekinetic force field.

He knew that Erik was still fine, he was probably just caught unprepared from that attack. Charles just hoped that he and Ororo could drive the duo off without any damage to the streets.

"Mystique," Erik's sudden shout made everyone stop, "We're getting out of here right now." That honestly baffled Charles, what happened to make Erik suddenly change his mind?

"Magneto, you know how important that child is." Mystique yelled back but when Erik moved out of the smoke, everyone was shocked. He looked bad, clutching his head with bloodshed eyes and was bleeding from his nose and ears.

"Now!" With Erik's shout, Mystique shape-shifted into a white pelican and immediately took off with Erik grabbed by her claw-like feet. He didn't stop them or even try to and a quick telepathic message to Ororo had her fly down and shake off the storm clouds.

"Wow, that was scary." He heard Miss Faye speak in a very dull manner and blinked. What had she done to make Erik look like that? What is her power? Was it automatic or did she just have fast reflexes? So many questions but he had to suppress them for now. He first needed to get Miss Faye back to the estate.

He also needed to learn what made the girl speak in such a dull and emotionless demeanor.

—