00131. Picking up a kid.

After eating dinner with his family, Theo made a new clone before he changed into Ezekiel and portaled onto the roof of the Toomes apartment building in New York before he moved down into the building itself. A few minutes later Ezekiel knocked on Adrians door and within a few moments Adrian opened the door before he said, "Hey Ezekiel, please come in. It might be a couple of minutes."

Ezekiel followed Adrian into the small apartment and took a seat on the couch as Adrian sat across from him on a worn out recliner. Once seated Adrian asked, "I thought you were bringing a kid with you?"

"Ya, but we'll pick them up on the way." Ezekiel said.

Adrian nodded in understanding as Doris came out of the back with her daughter in her arms. She smiled as she said, "Sorry for the wait. Ezekiel, I'd like you to meet our daughter Elizabeth."

Elizabeth smiled as she said, "Hi, I'm Elizabeth, but my parents like to call me Liz. Mom said you work with daddy."

Ezekiel nodded as he stood up and said, "It's nice to meet you Liz, I'm Ezekiel. And your mom is right, your dad is helping me with a very important job."

Ezekiel glanced at Adrian and asked, "Did you lock your front door?"

"Ya I did. Why?"

"Because we're going to travel by magic, so we won't need to go out the front door." Ezekiel said.

"Magic?"Adrian and Doris asked at the same time as Liz excitedly asked, "You know magic? Can you make a bunny appear out of a hat?"

Ezekiel smirked and started to swirl one hand in a circle as he said, "I can do better than making a bunny appear from a hat. How about a magic portal to California?"

As a portal appeared behind the family Liz said, "But bunnies are cute."

"I know someone who would agree with you, but magic portals are cooler." Ezekiel said.

"No, bunnies are cooler!"

Ezekiel smiled as he said, "Well look behind you and tell me if a magic portal isn't cooler than a bunny."

As the family turned around, they froze in place except Elizabeth who asked in wonder, "What's that?"

Ezekiel stepped around the family and into the portal as he said, "A magic portal to California. Now come along, we need to pick someone up."

Ezekiel stood on the other side of the portal for a few seconds before Adrian's brain rebooted and he asked, "What is that?"

"I just told you, a magic portal to California. Just step through it."

Adrian glanced at his wife who was still in shock and Liz who stared at the glowing orange portal in wide eyed wonder. Before Adrian tugged on Doris's arm and said, "Come on."

Doris came out of her shock and asked, "Is it safe?"

Ezekiel nodded before he said, "This is one of the safest forms of travel in the world. Just step through it."

As the family cautiously moved closer to the portal, Liz reached out to touch the glowing orange edge before Doris stopped her as she said, "Don't touch that, it's dangerous."

Ezekiel patiently waited for the family as they moved through the portal. Once on the other side they looked around in wonder as the portal snapped closed. Before them was a beautiful view of the California coastline and ocean. While next to them was an infinity pool and some high end furniture. As they took it all in, Ezekiel walked past them towards the back door of a white mansion.

Ezekiel opened up the sliding glass door as a voice spoke out over the speakers all around the house, "This is a private residence and you are currently trespassing. Please stay where you are as security has already been notified." 

As the Toomes turned around in shock again, Ezekiel asked, "Tony still hasn't added cameras and sensors so you can watch the back of the house JARVIS?"

"Oh, my apologies Mr. Ezekiel. I will inform Tony and security that it's you." JARVIS said.

There was a quick pause before JARVIS said, "Mr. Stark has yet to expand my sensor capabilities unfortunately… If I might inquire, is there a reason you didn't enter the house through the workshop?"

"I brought guests this time and you know how Tony is about his shop." Ezekiel said.

Adrian and his family walked closer to Ezekiel as he asked, "Who are you talking to Ezekiel?"

Ezekiel turned back to Adrian as he said, "Just JARVIS. You can think of him as Tony's assistant… Even though that's technically Pepper's job. Then again Tony's so bad I guess he needs two assistants."

"More like three." Happy said as he came out of the hallway leading to his security room.

"I only need one assistant and that's Pepper, thank you very much." Tony said as he walked out of the stairwell leading down to his workshop.

Ezekiel walked into the house followed closely by the Toomes as he said, "Oh really? What day is it?"

Tony smirked as he confidently said, "It's Wednesday."

"Mr. Stark it is currently Friday the fifth of April, two thousand and two." JARVIS said happily.

Adrian and his wife both shared a look as Ezekiel said, "I believe I proved my point. Anyways, are you ready?"

Tony frowned as he said, "Yeah. But you didn't prove anything. You know I always lose track of the hours when I'm working."

Ezekiel gave Tony a flat look as he said, "You lost track of two full days..."

"I was busy with that tech you gave me!"

"Don't try to blame me for.." Ezekiel shook his head before he said, "You know what, it doesn't matter."

Ezekiel stepped aside as he waved a hand towards Adrian and his family as he said, "I brought some guests. This is Adrian Toomes, his wife Doris and their daughter Elizabeth."

Ezekiel pointed at Tony as he said, "And this is the kid I told you I was bringing with me. Tony Stark."

"Hey! What do you mean I'm a kid?!" Tony asked.

Happy chuckled as he said, "He's right."

"I don't pay you to side with him." Tony said as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Mr. Stark, I believe that Mr. Ezekiel is correct with his assertion in labeling you a child. Your typical…" 

"Shut it, JARVIS. No one asked you." Tony said with a huff.

Ezekiel and Happy couldn't stop themselves as they laughed at Tony, who shot a glare at Ezekiel as he said, "This is all your fault, you programmed him to be like this."

Ezekiel stopped laughing as he said, "I know. But it's for your own good, it builds character."

Adrian finally spoke up as he asked, "Programmed?"

Ezekiel nodded as he said, "JARVIS is short for, Just a Rather Very Intelligent System. But it would be easier to think of him as a pseudo AI."

"AI like the thing in Terminator?!" Adrian asked in concern.

Tony moved closer as he said, "Kinda, but only in the most basic sense. JARVIS isn't really AI."

"So it's AI but not AI?" Adrian asked.

"He. JARVIS isn't an it." Tony corrected.

"Oh sorry."

Tony stepped close and extended his hand as he said, "It's fine. It's nice to meet you by the way, how do you know Ezekiel?"

As they shook hands Adrian said, "I just signed a contract with him and he invited us to dinner afterwards."

Tony cast a glance at Ezekiel as he said, "Really? What're you two working on?"

Ezekiel waved it off as he said, "Just some stuff for Vibe. It's not a big deal."

As Tony introduced himself to Doris and Liz, Ezekiel glanced at Happy and said, "You ready to go?"

"Yup. But are you sure I should leave my weapon?"

Ezekiel nodded as he said, "Ya, Tony will be fine. We are going to the safest place on the planet."

"Wait, where exactly are we going?" Adrian asked.

"Genosha." Ezekiel said as he smiled.

"Wait. Are we even allowed there? I heard they have strict policies on anyone even visiting the place." Doris asked in concern.

"You'll be fine, you're coming as my guests."

"Oh, do you live there?" Adrian asked.

"No, I just bankrolled the whole thing. Which gives me free reign to come and go as I please. I don't normally bring guests though."

Ezekiel turned to Tony as he said, "The only rule is, when you see someone with visible mutations, don't stare."

"Why are you talking to me like I'm a kid? You should be telling her that." Tony said as he pointed at Liz.

"Because I trust Liz not to stare… Maybe it would be better if you wear glasses while you're there." Ezekiel said as he rubbed his chin in thought.

Tony wanted to argue before Ezekiel said, "Whatever, it's fine. You'll be with me anyways."

Ezekiel glanced at everyone before he asked, "You guys ready?"

Adrian and his family nodded as Happy asked, "Wasn't Pepper going to join us?"

"Oh! I knew I forgot someone. JARVIS, do you know where Pepper is?" Ezekiel asked.

"Miss Potts just arrived at the front gate along with Major Rhodes, they will both join you shortly."

Ezekiel glanced at Tony as he asked, "You invited Rhodey?"

Tony glanced away as he said, "No."

Ezekiel shook his head as he said, "You're a terrible liar. But it's fine, Rhodey can join us."

Everyone chatted for about a minute before Pepper and Rhodey joined them. After short introductions Ezekiel made a portal as he said, "Once you're on the other side, don't take off. We'll basically be in the customs line at the airport."

After everyone stepped through the portal they were greeted by a room filled with runic scripts that covered every inch of the walls, floor and ceiling. Everyone glanced around in wonder as Tony asked, "What is this place?"

"It's one of the portal rooms for Genosha, it's basically the only real way to enter the country now."

"I doubt that. Someone can easily fly a plane to the island or drive a boat here." Tony said.

Ezekiel shook his head as he said, "Ask Rhodey. The US has tried to fly by the island almost ten times now. They also tried to reach the island with drones. None of it worked."

"I can neither confirm nor deny anything you just said." Rhodey said as he kept a straight face.

Ezekiel smirked as he said, "We can discuss this more later, but for now let's get going. The restaurant will be crowded soon with a dinner rush if we're not careful."

As they started to walk towards the only exit point in the room Pepper asked, "Why would there be a dinner rush? From my understanding, shouldn't it be around ten PM here?"

Ezekiel nodded as he opened the door leading out of the room and gestured for everyone to exit as he said, "By normal time zone standards you're correct. But a lot of people visit Genosha everyday and they live in other parts of the world. So Genosha kinda turned into this twenty four hour hub for the visitors."

As they stepped out into the main area of the portal hub, they were greeted by white marble floors, vaulted ceilings and a small circular desk with a few people seated at it. Behind them along the wall were nine other identical doors to the one they just exited. Ezekiel motioned everyone to follow him as he said, "Even though this is the entry point for the country, there's no security check. That desk over there is just a help desk for visitors."

"I thought you said we were going to be in a security line for customs?" Tony asked.

Ezekiel smirked as he said, "I just said that so you wouldn't run off alone."

As they walked towards the exit, Ezekiel waved at the people who worked the help desk before Rhodey asked, "Why would there be no security check for visitors? That seems like a pretty big safety concern."

"Ya, you said I didn't need to bring my service weapon because this place was safe. No security checks doesn't sound very safe to me." Happy said.

Ezekiel smiled as he said, "Genosha is only reachable by a few hundred people in the world currently. If you can't make a magic portal, you can't portal into the hub. And to be able to portal into the hub, you need to be added into the runes. I was your security check to get here."

As they exited the building they walked out into a small city center with some people walking around going about their business. The city center was a mix of modern technology and nature, with winding elegant brick walkways going to different buildings. Surrounding all the walkways was grass along with decent sized fruit trees. Small benches were set out along the pathways and under some of the trees.

The center point of the area, which was directly in front of the building they just exited, was a life-like statue of meta humans with physical deformities standing together with normal people. Under the statue inscribed on the base was, 'Working to build a world of understanding and compassion.'

Everyone was quiet as they took in the statue in front of them before Ezekiel said, "I'll show you around the place for a bit after dinner. But let's get going so we can get a good table."