[b][color=#9fc5e8]E A R L I E R[/color][/b]
[sub][color=#cfe2f3]London[/color] | [color=#cfe2f3]The United Kingdom[/color][/sub]

[indent][i][color=#cfe2f3]“You’re watching BBC London. I’m John Patrick and this is the news.”[/color][/i]

[i][color=#cfe2f3]“Parents in the north of London are in an uproar this evening, as a protest turned violent outside John the Evangelist Academy, a secondary school in Tottenham. The Metropolitan Police Service are investigating the incident, which appeared to involve a protester brandishing a knife against a student believed to be both human and an extraterrestrial. The protest outside the school had been to voice opposition to the child’s attendance at the institution, and follows many earlier such protests regarding the role of mutation or extraterrestrials in Britain.”[/color][/i]

[i][color=#cfe2f3]“The child is reported to be unharmed and is not being named in our report because of his age. The alleged assailant in this incident was taken to a local hospital with what the Metropolitan Police are describing as non-life threatening injuries.”[/color][/i]

[i][color=#cfe2f3]“School officials have indicated that they will make available counseling services for students who may have been affected by the violence. We’ll have more on this story as the news develops.”[/color][/i]

[i][color=#cfe2f3]“In weather, the cold trend continues...”[/color][/i]

[color=silver]The television blinked off. The man tossed the remote aside, a hand brushing against the stubble marking his face as he gave a heavy sigh.

Turning, the man peered over where an feminine silhouette was framed in a doorway, her body tense as she seemed lost in thought, peering inside of the room. As Chas made his way over to her, the man put his arms around the Shi’ar warrior, drawing her against him – the familiar feel of her feathers brushing against his cheek – as the two stared off into the dim bedroom.

Inside, a child slept soundly.

“The good Reverend’s been spewing hellfire the last month. Was only a matter of time before it got violent,” Chas noted in a quiet voice.

“Would that your [i]good Reverend[/i] would challenge me openly,” Cerise hissed in a low whisper.

“Cowards don’t work that way, Love,” Chas answered dryly. Then, guiding his wife away from the doorway, drew the door shut. “And we can’t protect him forever,” the man noted somberly.

“You sound like that Alistaire,” the feathered amazon opined dryly, as the woman slipped from the man’s arm and moved toward the master bedroom in the back of the flat.  “MI-13 wants to take Sai. [i]Protective custody[/i].”

“I don’t much like it either, Love,” Chas opined candidly, following behind his wife. “I want him to have a life – a normal life – but we can’t even send him to school without people protesting outside the gates.”

Making her way over by the wardrobe, the woman started removing her armor. “Half the United Kingdom wants to exorcize him like a demon, the other half want to study him like some...” 

“Alien?” 

As soon as he’d offered it, Chas winced with regret. The glare that Cerise hit him with made clear it was a poor choice of words.

Holding up his hands, the man tried to push on past the flub. “I think most don’t rightly care one way or another. We’re just caught up dealing with the wankers on either side.”

The look of disapproval didn’t leave her face. As he pulled back the duvet and got ready for bed himself, the man watched his wife for a moment. Then, finally, said, “Something else is bothering you.”

Cerise slipped into her side of the bed. “I received an... alternative proposal,” the woman noted, as Chas joined her in the bed.

“I’m not sure MI-13 is giving us an option so...” the man uttered in a matter-of-fact tone. Looking over at the woman next to him, he added, “What’s the alternative?”

The Shi’ar rolled on her side, a hand picking something up from the nightstand, and then rolling over as she passed the note to her husband.

A quizzical look crossed the cab driver’s face, as the man unfolded the missive and rolled closer to the light in order to read it.

When he had finished, the man lowered the note and blurted aloud, “You’re not honestly suggesting we trust our son to Tony [i]bloody[/i] Stark?”[/color][/indent]
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[b][color=#9fc5e8]PRESENT DAY[/color][/b]
[sub][color=#cfe2f3]New York[/color] | [color=#cfe2f3]The United States[/color][/sub]

[indent][color=silver]Sai didn’t get a whole lot of time to digest what was happening.

He’d woken up. Had some corn flakes. And then his mum had told him he was going to the United States. Not the normal way, either. Daytripper was going to give him a portal. London to New York in the blink of an eye.

The child found himself in freefall, taking a step through the portal and apparently stepping right off the edge of the sky itself.

A burst of light radiated from out of him, a myriad of colors sparkling as a rainbow seemed to swirl around him as his powers kicked in, slowing his descent to a halt as he righted himself in mid-air.

All around him, a metropolis spread from the sea inward. It was a lot like flying over London. Buildings on top of buildings. He’d been told to find someone named Stark. But how was he going to find [b]one man[/b] in a city the size of... well, the size of New York?

As the boy turned in mid-air, one building stood out among the rest. To start with, he was right next to it. Secondly, the building had the word [b]STARK[/b] across it. [color=#9fc5e8]“Oh,”[/color] the boy uttered, large violet eyes blinking with the realization that this might not actually be very difficult at all.

For a moment, the youth pondered what he was supposed to do next. Should he fly down and walk in the front door? The top of the building looked like it was made for someone to fly in and land though. Drifting closer to the building, the boy set his feet down on the terraced landing pad.

A pair of flying drones came into view about the same time. Though, Sai realized a second later that there were several more hovering around as well. 

[color=#9fc5e8]“[i]Uh[/i], hi?”[/color] the British child uttered sheepishly, as he fidgeted from side to side.

To his surprise, a moment later the drones seemed to move aside, leaving open the pathway to the door that was now visible at the end of the ramp that Sai had landed upon. Hesitating for a moment, the feathered child made his way into the glassed-in suite, with a large couch and two men inside.

The small Shi’ar was a mass of black feathers, his slight frame swallowed by the faded [i]Mucous Membrane[/i] t-shirt that he wore. A pair of Nike’s dressed his feet, making him appear to be quite an ordinary kid. Which, he was an ordinary kid. 

Just not entirely human.[/color][/indent]