C106 Bullying Gifted Youngsters

C106 Bullying Gifted Youngsters

Check out early access chapters on my Patréon, currently 14 chapters ahead!

——————

Peter landed the helicopter, its blades whipping the air around him as he descended onto the front lawn of Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters. He had a mission, and he intended to see it through. But as he stepped out of the cockpit, he found a girl standing in front of him, tears streaming down her face.

Peter approached her gently, feeling her turmoil through the Force. "Hey," he said softly, holding out his hand. "Are you alright?"

The girl, startled, flinched back. "No! Stop!" she screamed, stepping away from him, eyes wide with fear.

Peter paused, taking a moment to observe her and the crowd of students who had gathered to watch. He noticed their wary, suspicious, and even hateful glances, all directed not at him, as he initially thought, but instead at the crying girl. It was clear she was the focus of their negative attention.

‘What’s going on here?’ He wondered.

Frowning thoughtfully, Peter put his hands behind his back and gave her a warm smile. "I’m sorry if I scared you," he said gently. "I won’t touch you. My name’s Peter. What’s yours?"

The girl wiped her eyes with the back of her gloved hand. "I’m Rogue," she replied out of habit, her voice trembling. "And I was just leaving."

Realizing exactly who she was and why he couldn’t touch her, Peter ignored the growing crowd and asked. "What happened? Why were you crying?”

As his question hung in the air, he noticed her glance back at a boy with a visor over his eyes before glancing at the rest of the students, who all quickly looked away, as if they had nothing to do with it.

Turning back to Peter, Rogue smiled sadly and shook her head. "It’s nothing. I’m just leaving."

As she tried to walk away, her back turned, Peter called out, "Where are you going? Do you even have a car or money for the bus? Is there even public transportation around here?"

Rogue paused, glancing over her shoulder. "I’ll be fine," she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

Peter raised an eyebrow. "Okay, if that’s what you want. But if you change your mind, you can wait until I’m done here. I can give you a ride to wherever you want to go.” He offered, gesturing to his ride. “Have you ever flown in a helicopter before? It’s fun~"

For a moment, Rogue’s lips twitched into a small smile, almost tempted. But she shook her head. "Thanks, but no thanks," she said, walking off toward the front gate and slipping through it, disappearing from sight.

As she left, Peter’s smile faded. He glanced around at the students, who seemed both happy and relieved that Rogue was gone. "Does anyone want to tell me what that was all about?" he asked, his voice calm but his eyes flashing with a sliver of his Sith ability, Deadly Sight.

Instantly, the teenagers started sweating, fear evident in their eyes as a cold shiver ran down their spines. The atmosphere grew tense, the students’ discomfort palpable as they exchanged nervous glances, unsure who would speak up first.

An uneasy silence fell over the group as Peter waited for an answer to his question. His eyes narrowed on the young man with the visor, who he felt played a big role in what just happened, especially after the look Rogue had given him.

Of course, Peter knew who he was, Cyclops. And just like many X-Men fans in his past life, he never liked him. ‘I only just met him and I already want to punch him in the face...’

Cyclops was always portrayed as a sanctimonious, spoiled, lovesick moron. He was abrasive, didn't play well with authority figures, and had a tendency to do what he thought was right instead of what was actually right.

‘He was the type of guy who would tell you to your face that he knew better than you, then do the wrong thing...’ Peter scoffed inwardly.

Basically, Scott Summers was a d*ck of the highest order.

Feeling the brunt of Peter’s intimidating gaze, Scott swallowed his fear and bravely stepped forward. "Who are you, and why are you here?" he demanded, his voice shaking slightly as he changed the subject. "This is private property. You can’t just land a helicopter wherever you want."

Scott, still unable to lift his face from the dirt, replied through gritted teeth, practically shouting in frustration. "So what?! I did nothing wrong! Rogue nearly killed my best friend. What was I supposed to do? Pat her on the back and say 'good job'? Pyro is in the infirmary, and we don’t even know if he’ll wake up! So I’m sorry if my mean words hurt her feelings!" he said sarcastically.

Of course, he omitted the part where he denied Pyro's assault on her, but Peter didn’t know that, at least not yet.

Still, Peter felt an overwhelming urge to beat Scott even further into the ground, but he knew that would only make matters worse. So, instead, he took a deep breath and stepped back, removing his boot from Scott’s head.

He smiled disarmingly at the crowd. "See? Was it so hard to answer a single question?" With a wave of his hand, he released each and every one of them, besides Scott of course, allowing them to freely move again, no longer forced to kneel.

As the students stood, stretching and rubbing their sore limbs, Peter turned back to Kitty. "Could you please get the principal for me? I’d like to have a word with him."

Kitty nodded eagerly. "Y-Yes, sir," she said, trying to run off. But before she could, a voice interrupted.

"No need, Miss Pryde. I’m already here."

Peter turned to see Charles Xavier rolling toward them in his wheelchair. “...”

Behind the Professor stood three imposing figures. Beast, with his blue fur and imposing stature; Storm, a beautiful dark-skinned woman with stark white hair and an air of authority; and Colossus, a towering man with a body of gleaming metal.

[Insert picture of Storm here]

[Insert picture of Colossus here]

All three of them glared at Peter as if he were their worst event, ready to fight to defend the students at any moment.

But before anyone could say their greetings, out of nowhere, the sunny day suddenly turned dark and cloudy, no doubt from Storm preparing to defend the school if necessary.

But Peter ignored the darkening sky and the hostile looks as he addressed the Professor. "I apologize for making such a scene. Believe it or not, I didn’t intend to come here and cause trouble, but when the first thing you see upon arriving is a crying girl, you tend to want some answers."

Professor Xavier furrowed his brow in confusion. "I see. And you are?” He asked, searching the crowd of students for who Peter could have been talking about.

“Peter.” He replied easily. “I came to meet with you, actually. But it seems I was sidetracked along the way...”

“Did we have a meeting scheduled?” Xavier asked, not recalling any meetings for today.

Peter shook his head. “No, I’m not really the schedule a meeting kind of person...”

“Right...” Xavier looked a bit exasperated, but there was an amused twinkle in his eye. “Should we talk in my office then?"

Peter nodded. "Yes, that would probably be best."

As he walked over to the Professor, intent on following him inside the mansion, Colossus suddenly stepped into Peter’s path. And in a deep Russian accent, he said, "Release the Summers boy first."

Peter looked up at Colossus, who stared back down at him, looking as intimidating as a giant metal man could. After a brief staring contest, Peter suddenly smiled. "Oh, my bad. I completely forgot." He apologized, pretending like he had forgotten to release Scott.

He waved his hand, and instantly, Scott was lifted a few feet into the air before being smacked back into the ground, grunting in pain.

With a smile still on his face, Peter glanced back at Colossus. "Oops?"

A/N: 2104 words :)