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Chapter 39 - Chapter 39

"How was the tour, girls?" the busty blonde in a strict business suit asked with a smile.

The teenage girls, who were no longer children, groaned tiredly in response, muttering something barely coherent. They had been led through the corridors and buildings of Columbia University for four hours, and no matter how hyperactive one might be, everyone would get tired eventually.

"We really liked your university," the blonde with chocolate-colored skin said with a gentle smile, "which is rare in itself." She paused before continuing, "I think we got a lot of emotions and learned a lot of new things."

Unlike the teenagers, this girl was a bit older, though not by much. She looked to be about twenty-five, maybe a year older.

"Indeed," the tall red-haired man with a fiery print on his T-shirt smiled radiantly. "The tour was very informative. Now, we just need to digest what we saw with a clear head."

The blonde in the business suit politely said goodbye, handing out brochures about the university to the students of the prestigious private school. Though it would take some time, these children would eventually finish high school and begin thinking about higher education. Columbia University would be happy to welcome them all.

"Too bad that's almost certainly never going to happen," Ororo Munroe thought sadly.

She knew better than anyone that the children under her care had a poor grasp of their powers. Though half the effort of her and the other teachers went into teaching them micro-control and stealth, the results were still disappointing.

Only a few of these girls and a few of the rare boys showed promise, able to skillfully limit the use of their powers. Recently, Ororo had started to suspect the potential reasons for this.

Hyper-parenting—this was the root of their troubles. Professor Xavier, despite his good intentions, was too lenient with his students. Ororo knew this well, as she had been one of the first teachers to train Charlene! In her school, children were allowed a lot, and many things were excused. And, importantly, they were placed in an environment where they didn't need to hide, as everyone around them was also a mutant—so why bother?

It was surprising, but a regular person from the streets seemed much more prepared for the real world!

Jubilee Lee, or Jubilee as she preferred to be called, had opened Ororo's eyes to this simple truth. Of course, she wasn't the first student to be taken from the streets, but to be fair, almost all of Xavier's students were found and invited to the school right after acquiring their powers.

With the help of the telepath's abilities and Cerebro, Xavier could easily locate them. Thus, the new students weren't accustomed to hiding their true selves. But Jubilee had spent a long time on the streets, and she had learned to either blend in completely or cleverly mask her mutation to the point where no one could suspect her powers!

Once the group of children said their goodbyes to the tour guide, Ororo approached Jean Grey, one of the teachers at Xavier's school, the very same young man in the fiery T-shirt.

"Phoenix, keep an eye on the kids. Miss Lee and I need to step away for a bit," she asked.

"Of course, Storm," the red-haired charmer smiled brightly. "You can count on me!"

Despite his somewhat overconfident remark, Ororo knew that Jean wasn't exaggerating. Most of the school's female students adored the young teacher, and in their company, he had developed a distinct fatherly demeanor. In fact, he could manage an entire group of young mutants on his own without them getting into any trouble during his shift. Quite the talent, one might say.

Too bad he wasn't much of a performer in the bedroom and wore out after just a few minutes. But there was nothing to be done about that—men had never been known for their endurance, especially when one guy had to deal with six or more hungry women.

"Let's go, sweetie," Storm waved at the Asian girl she had spotted among the schoolgirls.

"Hooray!" Jubilee squealed quietly. "Finally, I'll see him!"

"Yes, yes," Storm laughed good-naturedly. "Just don't scare him off with your enthusiasm, you know young guys can be pretty skittish. He'll hide back in his little hole…"

"Marius isn't like that!" Jubilee retorted, swatting her palm, which only made Ororo sigh deeply and knowingly.

"Of course, he's special," Storm agreed.

"Exactly!" Jubilee didn't catch the jab.

The young girl and the even younger woman walked through the wide corridors of Columbia's main building and stepped out to the courtyard, lined with massive Greek columns.

Jubilee looked around, biting her lip, clearly not spotting the guy she was looking for. Ororo was barely keeping up as the girl frantically searched around the university entrance, but eventually, the mysterious young man was found. He was hiding in the shadow of one of the columns, and had Jubilee thought about it, she would've found him much faster.

"Marius!" the seventeen-year-old girl exclaimed.

The designated guy closed the familiar book by Ororo's boss and looked up with his deep, green eyes at the two women approaching.

"Handsome, little devil!" Ororo thought to herself.

She liked men like him—those who didn't pay much attention to their appearance, didn't fuss over cosmetics or their stubble. Brutal types—that's what she called them. It was a shame there were fewer and fewer of them these days. Jean was one of the few she knew, and now Marius. Hmm, upon seeing him, Ororo fully approved of her student's choice.

"Jubilee, I've missed you," Marius said, getting up and brushing off his pants. "Miss

Munroe, it's nice to meet you in person. We've only spoken on the phone before."

"Mr. Carlisle," Ororo nodded her head in greeting. "I'm happy to meet you as well. May I ask how you recognized me?"

"Well, that's simple," he laughed, adjusting his light bangs. "Your photo is on the official website of Professor Xavier's school for gifted students."

"Oh, right," Ororo admitted, embarrassed.

She hadn't even thought about that. Their website wasn't very popular, and not many people looked at the faculty photos. It turned out that the school often invited students before they even reached out on their own.

When parents find out their child is a mutant, most try either to ignore it or hide it from the public. Lock them in their rooms and switch to homeschooling—that's the more humane option. Some even try to treat it like a disease or a demonic curse.

"Well... shall we go?" Jubilee asked, almost dancing in place.

She was desperate to monopolize the conversation with the guy and wasn't hiding it at all.

"That's why we're here," Ororo nodded. "But first, before I leave you two alone, I have one question, Mr. Carlisle."

"You can just call me Marius," he smiled. "And of course, go ahead."

"Hm," Storm looked around and, with a small wave of her wrists, created a subtle whirlwind of air around them—barely noticeable to the eye, making it hard to tell where to look. Marius noticed, though.

"There are too many ears around," she explained her actions. "This should muffle our conversation."

"Very... interesting abilities you have," Marius commented, though he didn't look all that surprised.

"Weather control," Storm smiled sweetly. "What about you? Jubilee didn't seem too eager to share."

"Right, they asked, but I stayed quiet," Jubilee nodded seriously.

"You're good," Marius smiled encouragingly at his friend. Then he turned his gaze to Ororo and paused for a few seconds. She almost thought he wouldn't answer, but he didn't remain silent.

"As for my abilities, it's the theft of others'."

"Really?" Ororo's eyes widened.

If this was true, then Marius was potentially one of the most dangerous and powerful opponents the X-Men had ever faced! Storm had long stopped seeing the world through rose-colored glasses. The stronger the power, the more it could mess with the mind. And considering that mutant abilities usually manifested in adolescence, when hormones were raging, it was necessary to treat any potentially strong colleague as a threat.

"Temporary theft," Marius raised his hands in admission. "Plus, there are a lot of downsides. For instance, I can't touch someone for too long, or else... well, trouble."

Storm gave him a knowing glance at his gloves, which were hiding his hands. Every power had its drawbacks. Though, someone like Magneto—she was a walking nightmare. Her powers were quite narrow, limited to metal control, but the sheer strength she wielded offset most of her drawbacks.

Ororo kept her gaze fixed on Marius. Not many mutants would reveal themselves like this to another. For that, you needed either a certain amount of courage, or you had to be hiding some critical details about your abilities, or simply misleading everyone. And right now, the dark-skinned blonde was trying to figure out what kind of game Marius was playing.

The young man kept a perfect poker face, and it was impossible to discern anything from his expression. Ororo promised herself that she would definitely ask Jubilee about this again. Maybe now she could get some more concrete information.

"Thanks for satisfying my curiosity," she nodded gratefully. "Actually, my question was a little different. To be honest, I wanted to know if you'd be interested in joining our school's student body. I'm sure you'll find many friends there."

"I'll take your word for it," he smiled politely. "But I'm afraid I'm too old for high school. Besides, I have some responsibilities and matters that require my attention."

"Alright," Storm clearly understood that she shouldn't pressure this guy. "I hope you'll reconsider your decision. For now, I'll leave you two alone. Jubilee, keep your hands to yourself!"

"Hey!" the Asian girl protested, blushing deeply.

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