Charles Xavier and Scott Summers stared in abject awe as Tavor put away food like a hungry abyss.
It wasn't until the child's sixth helping that he finally let out a massive burp and patted his comically engorged belly.
"Where does it all go?" They thought simultaneously.
Aunt May's face went slightly pale seeing the small mountain of food disappearing into the strange child.
Uncle Ben's gaze became stern as he turned towards Charles Xavier.
"If we allow the child to go with you will we see him again?"
Charles turned towards Ben, his expression softening as he could sense the pure paternal feeling echoing throughout Ben's mind.
"As long as you call in ahead, I see no reason you couldn't visit!" Charles looked over towards Tavor where Peter was poking his puffy cheeks.
"I'm sure he would like that as well!"
Scott Summers, who stood directly behind, nodded in confirmation, causing both Uncle Ben and Aunt May to let out a sigh of relief.
"Okay, its probably for the best, seeing how much the child eats, if we keep him here we may find ourselves bankrupt just trying to feed him!"
Uncle Ben sighed in both relief and apprehension.
"Agreed; he is quite the eater, we may have to order mass amounts of food as well!"
Xavier turned his head towards Scott. "Please write down a reminder for me later!"
Scott nodded, taking a pen and a notepad from his jacket pocket and scrawling a reminder.
However, the morning sun passed through the window and glinted visibly off the Saiyan armor Tavor was wearing, and Scott's eyes narrowed due to the glare.
"Is he wearing armor?"
"I had thought it was simply a strange baby outfit, but that metallic glint is unmistakable!"
Scott stared intensely at the armor, all the while wondering just what it was made of.
Tavor looked over, sensing the burning gaze.
"Don't even think about it..." Tavor thought before grabbing Peter's finger mid-poke.
"Ow... Ow... Ow... Hey, don't squeeze so hard; it hurts!" Peter was struggling to extricate his finger from Tavor's grasp, but the child's grip strength completely outclassed Peter.
Hearing Peter's pained exclamations Tavor let go of his grip.
Charles and Scott approached Tavor, the boy raising his head to meet them, but Charles' eyes were closed and suddenly Tavor heard a voice echoed in his mind.
"Would you like to come with us, little one? We have lots of food!" The mental voice of Charles Xavier asked the question, but Tavor only truly paid attention at the mention of food.
Tavor's dark eyes seemed to snap up in excitement, and he happily reached out for Charles as if asking to go with him and Charles chuckled happily before reaching to pick Tavor up.
A few minutes later, Scott wheeled Charles, who was still holding the tiny Saiyan, out of the Parker residence and into a moderately fancy black and silver car outside.
After a forty-minute drive and a stop at a fast food joint to feed the never-endingly hungry child a family's amount of burgers and fries, they arrived in Westchester County, a sprawling mansion opening up before them.
As the car drove further inside, Tavor pressed his little face against the glass, gazing into the sprawling yard filled with trees as well as people, both younger and older.
Scott who watched from the rearview mirror smiled seeing this and Xavier let out a warm chuckle.
The car stopped before the massive front doors of the mansion, where several people seemed to be waiting for them to arrive.
At the forefront was a lovely, dark-skinned woman with sky blue eyes and long and luxurious snow-white hair that cascaded down her back like snow cascades down a mountain.
On the right, next to the white-haired woman was a fair-skinned woman with deep green eyes and long fire-red hair that seemed to carry an inner warmth.
On the opposite side, a tall mountain of muscles stood with his massive arms crossed over his chest and a friendly smile adorning his face.
Thump...
Thump...
Scott stepped out of the car and assisted Xavier onto his wheelchair.
Xavier was holding Tavor in his hands, and the sight of the small child caused both women to suddenly go wide-eyed and let out a gasp.
Both women dashed toward Xavier, the white-haired woman being slightly quicker on her feet and scooping up Tavor with bright eyes and an adoring smile.
"Oh my God... Charles, this little guy is so cute, just look at those chubby cheeks."
The red haired woman grabbed the tail lightly and pressed it against her face.
"His little tail is so soft... Professor can I keep him?"
As she spoke she seemed unaware of Tavor's face turning pale as her touch on his tail threaded the line of a Saiyan's weakness.
Upon hearing her words Scott seems to go wide eyed and slightly pale, a cold sweat dripping from his forehead to his chin.
"I'm not sure if I'm ready to be a father yet!" Is all he can think as his grip weakens and his knees shake.
Professor Xavier noticed this and struggled to stifle a chuckle before nodding toward the red-haired woman.
"If you want to be his surrogate mother, go ahead Jean, but remember that raising a little one is no simple matter!"
The white-haired woman pressed her cheek against Tavor's.
"I call dibs on being his auntie, hehehehe, so soft!"
Tavor's small hands pushed against the white-haired woman, but despite his best efforts, she remained practically glued to him.
"Oh? He is quite strong, isn't he? Hehehehehe."
Xavier and Scott looked at each other, a tacit conversation happening between them before turning back to Tavor, who continued to struggle in the midst of two women in the midst of cuteness aggression and offered up a silent prayer.
After several minutes of Tavor being relentlessly adored they finally stepped inside the mansion.
Jean Grey held him in her arms and bore a brilliant smile on her face that seemed to light up the room around her.
Tavor struggled for a few moments in her embrace, but eventually he succumbed to the warmth and softness of her chest, his eyes becoming increasingly heavy as his comfort increased.
As Jean Grey noticed that sleep was overwhelming Tavor, she hastened to her room and lay down on the bed with Tavor lying directly next to her.
Tavor's breathing gradually evened out as sleep claimed him completely.
The warmth surrounding him faded.
The softness beneath his cheek disappeared.
Darkness swallowed everything.
Then came the sounds.
The distant roar of engines.
The rumble of machinery.
The crackling of fire.
A familiar scent filled his nose.
Metal.
Dust.
Smoke.
Tavor slowly opened his eyes.
Before him stretched an endless crimson landscape.
Jagged mountains pierced the horizon like the teeth of some colossal beast.
The sky itself glowed a deep red-orange, painted by the light of a massive sun hanging overhead.
Towering cities of black metal rose from the wastelands.
Ships flew through the skies.
Thousands upon thousands of armored warriors moved through bustling streets.
Saiyans.
Everywhere.
Tavor stood motionless as memories that weren't quite memories washed over him.
A towering warrior laughed while carrying a struggling child upside down by the ankle.
A group of young Saiyans fought viciously in a training yard.
An elderly Saiyan woman smacked a young warrior across the back of the head for losing a fight.
Everywhere he looked there was strength.
Conflict.
Pride.
It felt...
Comfortable and familiar.
Yet distant.
Like staring through a fogged window.
Tavor slowly turned.
At the center of the horizon stood an enormous palace built atop a mountain.
Its black walls seemed to dominate everything around it.
The Royal Palace.
Even though Tavor had never consciously seen it before...
He somehow knew.
The dream shifted.
The sky darkened.
The streets grew quiet.
An unease spread through the city.
Warriors stopped laughing.
Citizens glanced upward.
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
Tavor followed their gazes.
Far above Planet Vegeta, hanging amidst the stars, floated a tiny glowing sphere.
Beautiful.
Golden.
Small.
The sphere slowly grew.
And grew.
And grew.
Until it dwarfed entire mountains.
A feeling of instinctive terror spread through the dream.
Saiyans pointed upward.
Others shouted.
Ships launched desperately from spaceports.
Panic spread.
Then the sphere descended.
A colossal sun falling from the heavens.
Tavor felt his chest tighten.
Somewhere deep inside himself, instinct screamed.
Run.
Run.
RUN.
The dream changed again.
A single figure floated amongst the stars.
Small compared to the gigantic energy sphere.
Yet somehow more terrifying than it.
A pale figure.
Purple accents.
A cruel smile.
Blood red eyes devoid of compassion.
The figure raised one finger lazily.
The enormous sphere obeyed.
Like a toy.
Like a pebble.
Like the destruction of an entire world meant nothing.
The dream-Tavor couldn't understand who the figure was.
But one emotion echoed throughout every Saiyan below.
Hatred.
Pure hatred.
Then came the explosion.
Light consumed everything.
The heavens cracked.
The planet shattered.
Mountains vanished.
Cities evaporated.
Millions of voices cried out.
Then disappeared.
Gone.
The dream world broke apart.
Darkness swallowed everything once more.
Tavor floated alone within an endless void.
Silence.
Cold.
Loneliness.
Then...
A heartbeat.
THUMP.
Another heartbeat.
THUMP.
Warmth spread through the darkness.
THUMP.
THUMP.
A familiar warmth, safe and comfortable.
The cold void began to retreat.
The distant destruction of Planet Vegeta faded.
The screams vanished.
The darkness weakened.
THUMP.
THUMP.
THUMP.
Tavor unconsciously curled into a tiny ball.
The heartbeat continued.
Steady, gentle, and comforting.
Without realizing it, the sleeping Saiyan nuzzled closer to the source of that warmth.
Back in the Xavier Institute, Jean Grey looked down from the book she had been reading.
Tavor had somehow moved from lying on her chest to practically burying himself against her side.
His tiny tail wrapped around her arm.
Jean blinked.
Then smiled.
"Comfortable, huh?"
The sleeping child let out a tiny yawn.
His tail tightened slightly.
Jean's smile softened.
She carefully brushed a hand through his dark hair.
Unaware that halfway across the mansion, Charles Xavier suddenly froze.
The professor slowly looked out the window toward the afternoon sky.
A thoughtful expression appeared on his face.
For the briefest moment...
Just a brief moment...
He had sensed something from the sleeping child.
Not a thought, not an emotion, a memory.
A burning world.
Countless deaths, and an overwhelming sense of loss.
Charles frowned.