(A/N):
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<AUTHOR NOTE:->
Guys I Want you to help me find all those character’s you felt they should be in…
Since I can start my research on them…
And also helps me find the character’s easily…
Hope you comments their names or img…
here…
….
The day of the gathering finally arrived.
By then, Raja had almost convinced himself that Tony Stark’s invitation really was nothing more than a scholarship opportunity.
He had spent too much time imagining secret surveillance rooms and billionaire-level detective work, and every time he did,
He reminded himself that there were far more ordinary explanations.
Unfortunately, his Camaro was still unavailable after the cake-shop incident, so there was no dramatic entrance for him.
Instead, he accompanied his parents in their car, sitting in the back while Jagadish drove and Grace occasionally turned around to make sure her son was still behaving himself.
As they approached Stark Tower,
Raja couldn’t help staring through the window.
Even after everything he had experienced since arriving in this world, the sight of the tower still made him pause.
It rose above Manhattan like a monument to excessive wealth, technological ambition and Tony Stark’s complete refusal to believe that a building needed to look modest.
“Wow,”
Raja muttered looking around in awe.
Grace smiled seeing his reaction.
Jagadish chuckled from the driver’s seat.
“You’ll get used to it.”
Raja wasn’t so sure.
Considering the number of things associated with Stark Industries that had nearly gotten people killed in this universe, he wasn’t certain he wanted to get used to anything.
The moment they reached the entrance, they were subjected to several layers of security.
Guards checked their invitations, verified their identities and scanned them before allowing them through.
Raja cooperated without complaint, although he couldn’t help thinking that if someone had told him a few months ago that he’d one day be walking into Stark Tower under heavy security,
He would have assumed they were talking about some billionaire’s private fan convention.
Once inside, however, he realized this wasn’t an ordinary corporate gathering.
The reception hall had been transformed into an enormous formal venue.
Elegant lighting reflected from the glass walls, waiters moved through the crowd carrying trays of food and drinks, and conversations filled almost every corner of the room.
Raja recognized several names from television and newspapers.
Business executives.
Scientists.
Government officials.
Military representatives.
People from the energy industry, technology companies, finance, aerospace and several other sectors.
There were also international guests, diplomats and representatives from foreign corporations.
Raja quietly looked around.
“Okay…
This is definitely not a small company party.”
Grace smiled hearing him.
“Your father told you that.”
“He said gathering.”
“This is a how stark gathering works.”
“Mom, this is basically the United Nations with better catering.”
She laughed.
While Jagadish shook his head.
“Just relax and enjoy yourself.”
Raja eventually found a comfortable place to sit.
A waiter passed by with a tray of drinks, and Raja picked up a glass of orange juice.
He looked at the other colorful drinks being carried around.
For a moment, curiosity got the better of him.
Then he glanced toward his mother.
Grace was already watching him.
Raja immediately returned his attention to the orange juice.
Nope.
Absolutely not.
If he even tried alcohol, his mother would probably skin him alive before Tony Stark got the chance to ask him a single question.
He took a sip.
“Orange juice it is.”
At least it was good.
He had barely settled in when the lights gradually dimmed.
Conversations quieted as Tony Stark entered the hall alongside Pepper Potts.
Tony didn’t need anyone to announce him.
His presence alone was enough to pull the attention of almost everyone in the room.
He walked onto the small stage, adjusted his jacket and looked over the crowd.
“Good evening everyone.”
The room quieted further.
Tony began explaining the next stage of Stark Industries development, focusing particularly on the energy sector and the company’s plans for cleaner, more efficient power generation.
He discussed advances in energy storage, reactor efficiency and several projects that were clearly far more ambitious than what most conventional companies were attempting.
Raja listened with genuine interest.
Even without understanding every technical detail, he could tell that Tony was thinking several decades ahead of the current energy industry.
‘So this is the guy who is eventually build a miniature sun in a basement.’
Raja took another sip of orange juice.
‘Yeah.
That checks out.’
After the presentation ended, applause filled the hall.
Tony stepped down from the stage and immediately became surrounded by people wanting to speak with him.
Business partners.
Government officials.
Old acquaintances.
People hoping to become new acquaintances.
Pepper stayed close by, occasionally stepping in when someone became too persistent.
Raja watched the chaos with mild amusement.
Then something caught his attention.
A familiar-looking man entered the gathering.
An elderly bald man seated in a sophisticated wheelchair that hovered slightly above the floor.
Raja’s expression changed.
‘Professor Xavier.’
He recognized him immediately.
Charles Xavier wasn’t alone.
Walking beside him were two women.
One was a tall woman with long white hair and an elegant bearing that made her impossible to overlook.
Ororo Munroe.
Storm.
The other was Jean Grey, who looked considerably more relaxed than Ororo as they moved through the crowd with Xavier.
Raja’s eyes briefly widened.
‘So they’re actually here.’
He had expected the meet with X-Men if he had a chance to cross path with them,
But seeing Charles Xavier and two of his most prominent students standing inside Stark Tower was different from simply knowing they existed.
The reaction from the surrounding guests was even more interesting.
Conversations became quieter.
Some people smiled politely.
Others moved subtly out of their path.
Several guests watched them with obvious suspicion.
It wasn’t difficult to understand why.
Mutants weren’t exactly welcomed by everyone.
Charles had spent years building bridges between mutant kind and the human population, but social acceptance was still fragile.
Many ordinary people remained uncomfortable around mutants,
While some politicians openly treated them as a potential security threat.
And here they were…
Three mutants walking through a room filled with politicians, military officials and wealthy business leaders.
Raja took another sip of his orange juice as if it was some kind of wine.
‘This is going to be interesting.’
Not far away, another woman had already attracted attention.
Emma Frost.
Unlike Xavier, she had built her position in high society through her own business empire.
Frost Enterprises had given her considerable influence among wealthy circles, and Emma understood exactly how to move through a room like this without ever appearing out of place.
She was elegant, composed and perfectly aware of the attention she received.
Unlike Charles and his students, however,
Emma was careful about revealing her mutant abilities in public.
Her identity as a mutant remained something she guarded carefully.
She understood the difference between having power… Find the original chapter at g.com.
And letting everyone know you had it.
As Emma moved through the gathering, she noticed Charles Xavier almost immediately.
Her expression remained pleasant.
“….”
But her eyes sharpened.
Meanwhile, several guests continued watching Xavier and the two women accompanying him.
Raja noticed the subtle reactions.
Whispers.
Uneasy glances.
People pretending not to stare while very obviously staring.
It reminded him of something he’d heard through the topic related to mutant possessing danger to human.
This discussion happened in several news channels he’d imagined after the Harlem incident.
While instead of discussing about military failure the experiment which caused the creation of Abomination and death of all those civilians who got caught in the cross fire.
Mutants weren’t simply fighting villains.
They were fighting public perception.
And standing in a room like this meant Charles Xavier wasn’t merely attending a party.
He was negotiating.
Building connections.
Trying to make sure mutant kind had a place at the table.
Raja quietly watched him for a moment before looking back toward Tony Stark.
The billionaire was currently speaking with several guests, but then his eyes briefly moved across the room.
For a fraction of a second…
They met Raja’s.
“….”
“….”
Tony’s expression didn’t change.
Neither did Raja’s.
But something about the moment made Raja’s instincts immediately become alert.
Tony looked away and continued his conversation.
Raja slowly lowered his glass.
“…Okay.”
His earlier suspicion returned.
Maybe this wasn’t just a scholarship dinner after all.
Charles Xavier had been quietly observing the gathering for several minutes, allowing Jean and Ororo to handle most of the small conversations around them.
He was accustomed to the subtle changes that occurred whenever he entered a room filled with people who weren’t entirely comfortable with mutants.
Some tried to hide their discomfort behind polite smiles, others simply avoided looking at him, and a few weren’t nearly as subtle.
Then his attention shifted across the room.
He noticed the young man who had been sitting with his parents.
Raja.
Their eyes met almost by accident.
For a moment, neither of them looked away.
Raja recognized Charles immediately, of course, but unlike most people who noticed the famous mutant telepath, he didn’t seem nervous or cautious.
Instead, Raja simply raised his glass of orange juice slightly, almost as though offering a casual toast from across the room.
Charles found himself smiling faintly.
“….”
He raised his own glass in response.
Raja then turned his attention back toward the gathering, apparently thinking nothing more of the exchange.
Charles, however, remained interested.
There had been something unusual in the young man’s eyes.
He had seen fear countless times when people looked at him.
He had seen suspicion, curiosity, discomfort and, on occasion, outright hatred.
Even those who supported mutant rights often carried some degree of apprehension when standing near someone capable of entering their minds.
But Raja had looked at him without any of that.
There had been no hostility.
No fear.
Not even the guarded uncertainty Charles had come to expect.
Just simple curiosity.
That alone was enough to make Charles wonder about him.
His telepathy reached outward almost instinctively.
It wasn’t something he consciously decided to do at first.
After years of living with his ability, reading the surface thoughts of someone nearby could sometimes be as natural as hearing a person’s voice.
But the moment his consciousness touched Raja’s mind, Charles immediately recoiled.
A strange sound filled his perception.
Not a thought.
Not a voice.
Not even silence.
It sounded like something cracking beneath enormous heat.
Crack…
Crack…
Crack…
Charles’ expression changed.
For an instant, the sensation reminded him of something being slowly burned inside a furnace, followed by the disturbing sound of bone splitting under extreme pressure.
He immediately withdrew his telepathic reach.
Ororo noticed the change in his expression.
“Professor Charles?”
He didn’t answer immediately.
Jean looked at him.
“What happened professor?”
Charles continued staring toward Raja.
“I couldn’t read him.”
Charles shook his head slightly, still trying to understand what had happened.
“I couldn’t establish a connection.”
Ororo frowned hearing him.
“Is he another telepath?”
“No.
I can’t be sure about that…”
Charles’ expression became more thoughtful.
“I don’t think so.”
Jean looked toward Raja.
“Let me try.”
Charles turned toward her.
“Jean…”
But she had already extended her own telepathic senses.
The moment she touched Raja’s mind, the same strange sound hit her consciousness.
A horrible, unnatural cracking noise accompanied by the sensation of unbearable heat.
Jean instinctively pulled back.
But unlike Charles, she had managed to push slightly deeper before doing so.
And for one brief moment, she saw something.
A dark silhouette standing within flames.
A burning skull.
Two empty eye sockets glowing with an unnatural orange-red light.
The figure turned toward her.
Jean froze meeting the eyes.
Then the creature’s voice thundered through the darkness.
“WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT?”
Jean’s eyes snapped open.
She immediately took a sharp breath and looked around the room.
Ororo noticed her sudden reaction.
“Jean?”
Jean didn’t answer for a moment.
Charles already knew.
“You tried.”
Jean nodded slowly looking at Raja with wide eyes.
“And you saw something.”
“I…”
Jean glanced toward Raja.
Her expression had changed completely.
“I think I know who he is.”
Charles followed her gaze.
“Who?”
Jean lowered her voice.
“The Ghost Rider.”
Charles’ eyes narrowed hearing it.
Ororo’s expression hardened immediately.
Jean nodded her head she was sure about that.
“The one from Harlem.”
Ororo looked toward the young man again.
The teenager sitting quietly with an orange juice in his hand looked completely ordinary.
Nothing about him resembled the flaming supernatural being who had fought Hulk and Abomination.
But Jean’s brief glimpse had been enough as she whispered.
“It was him, I’m certain.”
Ororo’s eyes narrowed.
“We shouldn’t approach him.”
Jean looked at her confused.
“Why?”
“Because we know almost nothing about him.”
Ororo’s voice remained calm, but there was caution beneath it.
“We’ve seen what he can do.
He fought Hulk and Abomination and survived.
Whatever that thing is, we don’t know its limits, its motives or whether it considers mutants allies.”
Jean crossed her arms.
“He protected civilians.
And spoke for us mutants…”
“I know.”
“And he openly challenged the military.”
“I know that too.
Didn’t I support him when Scott didn’t like Ghost Rider speaking about Mutants…”
Ororo glanced toward Charles.
“Which is precisely why we shouldn’t walk over there without knowing what we’re dealing with.”
Charles listened quietly.
He understood Ororo’s concern.
She wasn’t suggesting that Ghost Rider was an enemy.
If anything, she had been one of the few people in the room who hadn’t immediately viewed the supernatural figure from Harlem with suspicion.
But Charles had spent decades learning that good intentions didn’t always make someone safe.
Especially someone whose mind he couldn’t even touch.
Charles looked toward Raja again.
The young man was talking casually with his parents now, seemingly unaware that three members of the X-Men were discussing him from across the room.
Or perhaps he knew.
That possibility made Charles even more curious.
He had encountered minds that were difficult to read before.
Telepaths, powerful mutants, individuals trained to shield their thoughts and even certain supernatural entities.
But this was different.
There hadn’t been a wall.
There hadn’t been a shield.
There had been something else entirely.
Something that had made his telepathic senses feel as though they had touched an open furnace.
Charles slowly smiled.
“I understand your concern, Ororo.”
Jean looked at him.
“Then you’re not going to approach him?”
Charles turned his wheelchair slightly.
“I didn’t say that.”
Ororo sighed hearing where he was going with his words.
“Charles…”
“He may be dangerous.”
Charles looked toward Raja.
“But so may every person in this room.”
He gestured subtly toward the gathering around them.
“Some of them simply hide it better.”
Jean almost smiled.
“That’s not exactly reassuring.”
“It wasn’t meant to be.”
Charles began moving his wheelchair forward.
Ororo watched him with concern.
“You really want to do this now?”
Charles nodded his head.
“I have spent years trying to understand people who are different from us.”
His gaze remained fixed on Raja.
“Tonight, I have encountered someone whose mind I cannot even touch.”
A faint smile crossed his face.
“I would very much like to know why.”
Jean exchanged a glance with Ororo before following him.
Ororo remained hesitant for another moment.
Then she sighed and followed as well.
Across the room, Raja noticed the three of them approaching.
His eyes briefly moved from Charles to Jean, then to Ororo.
Something about Jean’s expression made him suspicious.
‘Did she just try something?’
Inside his mind, Zarathos gave a low, amused growl.
“The red-haired one touched the door.”
Raja nearly choked on his orange juice.
“She what?”
“She attempted to enter.”
Raja glanced toward Jean.
She looked perfectly composed now.
“And?”
“She saw me.”
Raja’s eyes widened slightly.
“Great.”
He slowly lowered his glass.
“So much for nobody knowing.”
Zarathos sounded almost amused.
“You should be honored.
The old telepath has finally found something he cannot understand.”
Raja mentally sighed.
“That’s not what I’m worried about.”
He looked toward Charles, who was steadily approaching.
“I’m worried about what happens when he starts asking questions.”
Charles eventually stopped a few feet away.
For a moment, the two simply looked at each other.
Raja raised his glass again.
This time, there was a faint smile on his face.
“Professor Xavier.”
Charles smiled hearing him address him as professor.
“Raja, isn’t it?
I heard your father call you that…”
Raja’s eyebrows rose hearing him.
“So you’ve been paying attention.”
“One could say that.”
Jean and Ororo stopped beside Charles.
Raja looked at them.
“Jean Grey, The Marvel Girl…
Ororo Munroe, The Storm.”
Jean’s expression shifted slightly.
“You know us.
I’ve read newspapers.”
Raja took another sip of his orange juice.
“Besides, it’s not exactly difficult to recognize the X-Men.”
Charles smiled seeing he was not showing any worry of them.
“Fair enough.”
There was a brief silence.
Then Charles said,
“I hope you don’t mind if I join you for a moment.”
*******************************
(Author note:)
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