Chapter 124 – Change, Prelude

[2009 – September]

It was Monday again, which meant that the first class of the day was Mr. Stanley's language arts.

Jean and I had done our reading assignments together while we had each written a short essay about the contents that we were supposed to read, much like a summary with an added analysis of the characters and the way the story was structured.

It was a relatively short essay and it thankfully hadn't taken up too much of my time.

Still, class hadn't started yet and we were still waiting outside the classroom. I was leaning against a locker with my shoulder while Jean was leaning against me, her back pressed against my chest while my arms were wrapped around her waist.

She was chatting with Yukio and Ellie, telling them that we had tried the food from the Chinese restaurant that they had told her about.

Laura and Pietro were also present, though the former was mostly silent as just wasn't the talkative kind while the latter was busy playing some game on his phone, his fingers leaving behind shadows as he abused the poor device with his Superspeed.

Suddenly though, my senses picked up on a familiar presence as my gaze shifted to the side. I saw Peter arrive with his skateboard in hand and with my Extrasensory Perception, I noticed how much he had changed in just a few days.

No longer was he a baseline human, his physique and presence many times stronger than the other normal teens around.

I had watched him over the weekend and I knew that he had already gained his powers from the spider bite, so I wasn't surprised by this change even though it was the first time I felt his transformation in person.

I wasn't the only one who noticed his though, as I could feel Jean tense up in my embrace, her attention shifting to the lanky teenager. To be honest, I would have been strange if she had not noticed his change, considering the connection she had with the Aspect of Life.

Peter had basically become another life from over the weekend, his genetic makeup mutating to provide him with power far beyond ordinary people's reach.

For Jean to notice this was only natural as she was very sensitive to the life force of others ever since she had awakened her true power as the inheritor of the Phoenix Force.

Even before that, her senses were one of the sharpest out of all the mutants due to her sensitivity to changes in the ambient psionic energy, and Peter's transformation naturally had consequences in how his presence affected the psionic energy around him.

Still, besides Jean, Laura had also sensed something as she gazed at the teen with her intense green eyes, instinctively recognizing him to be a threat. Not to mention that his scent had also changed, and the quiet brunette was sure to take note of that.

Yukio, Ellie, and Pietro, as well as the other mutants from Xavier's that were present, didn't notice anything strange though, their senses and instincts not sensitive enough to pick up on Peter's change. All of their senses were basically still those of a normal human even though their powers far exceeded that.

Peter seemed to have sensed Jean's and Laura's gazes as he turned towards them for a moment, exchanging looks with them for a few seconds before his eyes inevitably wandered toward Gwen.

I knew that he had yet to master his new powers and that he didn't fully understand yet the extent of what he was capable of, or else he wouldn't just shrug off the gazes of two of the most dangerous mutant around.

Peter's senses were incredible now that he had changed after being bitten by a spider, so it was only a matter of time before he realized that some of his classmates were very different in comparison to normal humans.

Obviously, his perception was useless against me as I could simply shield myself from his senses but the other mutants present did not have this ability.

Turning her head back to me, Jean saw that I was just calmly observing the situation and she asked quietly: "You noticed it too?"

Nodding, I smiled at her while tightening my arms around her waist.

"Could he be a mutant?", she continued softly, knowing that it was possible that Peter had awakened his mutant abilities which would explain his sudden change.

Shaking my head, I leaned down and gave her a short kiss on the lips, my cheek brushing past hers as I replied quietly: "No, he is something different, or the Professor would have already contacted him."

I didn't say anything else as I saw Jean accepting my words with a smile and a nod. The was no reason to tell her about Peter's back story as Jean would just worry needlessly.

In fact, the same was true for many future events that I had knowledge about. Even I myself was burdened by the knowledge that I possessed, and I was not of the mindset to intervene in what was going to happen in most cases.

For someone like Jean, who inherently sought to do good and help others, knowing too much wasn't a good thing. I wanted to protect her from all this as much as possible so that she could grow and live freely.

If she still wanted to help others when the option represented itself, I wouldn't stop her when the time came. Jean was just learning to fly, and I wouldn't allow my future knowledge to cripple or restrain her.

I wanted her to have the freedom to be herself, as much as I wanted to be free myself.

…

The rest of the week went by rather uneventfully, or at least in the grand scheme of things they did.

I went to school and continued my intense training in my free time, spending as much time as possible with Jean in between. I could feel that it would take me another few days until I was ready to give myself the Omega-level power I had been planning for.

It was at that time when I heard from Yukio about how Peter had humiliated Flash in a round of basketball before demolishing one of the baskets in the gym while dunking.

Considering that Peter had just gotten his power when suddenly the chance to get back at his bully appeared in front of him, it wasn't surprising that he had not thought twice to do exactly that. I also remembered this happening from the movie, which made me realize what was about to happen next.

Naturally, I couldn't be absolutely certain that things would progress the same way that they had in the movies but if they did, then Peter was about to suffer great pain and sorrow.