66: Chapter 66 Storage Room

Xavier sighed: "Yes, I'm afraid so."

...

When Peter returned to the others, Scott and Jean were playing basketball with the girls. He stood on the sidelines with his arms crossed, watching the two Mutants suppress three ordinary girls. Only Felicia had some achievements, managing to win back a point for every two points the opponents scored.

"Hey, want to join?" Scott just made a three-pointer and turned back to ask him.

Peter shrugged: "That's not very fair."

"Fair to whom?" Scott asked with amusement.

"To you." Peter replied.

"You think you can beat us?" Scott chuckled.

"Of course he can," Jean interrupted, bouncing the ball, "He's super agile."

"Really?" Scott raised an eyebrow, "Alright, then bring it on. You and me, one-on-one."

Peter laughed: "You really don't want to do this, Scott."

"So confident?"

"Not confidence, just being very, very clear about what I can do."

"Fine, how about a bet?" Scott also smiled, "If I win, you lend me your delorean for a spin."

Peter curled the corner of his mouth: "Deal. If I win, you have to tell me what your power is. Deal?"

Scott tossed the ball to him: "Deal."

Peter took off his jacket and stepped onto the court. "Awesome, we've got a good show to watch." Mary Jane smiled and sat down with the girls by the court.

Peter stood in front of Scott, dribbling the ball to him with one hand, "Are you sure you want to play?"

Scott dribbled it back: "Of course."

Peter grinned: "Moron."

Five minutes later...

"The king of the Xavier Mutant school basketball court is none other than Peter Parker!" Peter shouted, completing his fifth dunk. He landed lightly and grinned at Scott, whose jaw was almost dropping to the ground.

"You, how did you do that?!" Scott roared.

Peter smiled: "I'm really agile."

"Alright you two, it's lunch time!" Jean called out loudly, walking towards the house with the girls.

"Coming," Peter answered, putting a hand on Scott's shoulder and leading him inside, "Well, I won. Tell me, what is your power?"

Scott sighed: "This... is a bit complicated. Basically, I can... blow things up."

Peter grinned: "Cool."

They had lunch with the others in an unthinkably clean kitchen. At the twelve-person long table, the girls chattered away catching up, while Scott and Peter chatted about his power.

"So it's a concussive beam? Not thermal energy?" Peter was slightly surprised.

Scott nodded: "Yeah, Professor said so. He said the source of my power is in my eyes, but he doesn't know where it specifically comes from."

Peter pondered. On his Earth, there was a theory that Scott's power came from another dimension. Perhaps much like Johnny Storm's power, drawing strength from another dimension and channeling it into this World in some form of energy.

"Close your eyes," Peter said.

Scott was stunned: "What?"

"I want to see what your eyelids look like when you close them. Close them," he repeated. Scott did as told, and Peter carefully removed his goggles. Beneath his eyelids, a faint red energy was visible, yet it didn't tear his skin.

"Are you done?" Scott grew a bit impatient.

"Done." Peter put the glasses back on him, and through the red lenses, he could see Scott's opened eyes. "Alright, I think I have some clue about how your power works."

Scott blinked: "What?"

Peter nodded: "I know someone whose power is similar to yours. His strength comes from another dimension, an existential plane that his body can summon at will. I suppose your body works on the same principle. In a sense, this energy is a part of your body, which is why your eyelids won't be torn apart. I guess your fingers, or even any other part of your body, can also be immune to this energy. Perhaps they absorb the energy in reverse and channel it back into your body... though I can't be completely sure."

Scott was dumbfounded: "How do you know all this?!"

Peter shrugged: "Didn't Jean tell you? I'm a genius."

For the rest of the afternoon, they strolled around the estate with Scott and Jean. Scott talked endlessly with Peter about cars. Although Peter wasn't as fanatic as him, he had learned quite a bit during the days he tinkered with the delorean alongside Johnny Storm and Ben Grimm, so he could hold a conversation.

By evening, they had to say goodbye. Scott, Jean, Xavier, Ororo, and Logan all came to the front door to see them off.

"I really can't believe you can drive this." Scott looked at Peter's car.

"I missed you guys so much," Jean said, giving them each a big hug. When it was Peter's turn, she gently pressed a kiss on his cheek, then raised her hand to remove the psychic blocker on his ear.

Peter was stunned and about to speak when her voice sounded in his mind: "Next time, only bring Felicia. Just the three of us, hanging out alone." Jean smiled and put his earring back on for him. Peter's face flushed instantly.

"Professor, thank you for the hospitality," Mary Jane politely thanked, "This place is truly amazing."

"Yeah, I'm so glad our little Jean is being taken care of so well here." Liz Allan also nodded repeatedly.

"You're welcome," Xavier nodded, "You are welcome to visit anytime. The doors here are always open for friends."

"Though it's best to say hello before coming next time," Logan added in a gruff voice.

Peter blinked, as if suddenly remembering something: "Oh right, almost forgot!" He walked quickly to the car, fished out his history textbook from the luggage, took it over to Logan, and flipped to the World War II page, "Here, can you give me an autograph?"

Logan and the others all looked surprised. "What game are you playing, kid?" Logan asked.

"This." Peter pointed to Captain America and James Howlett—which was Wolverine—in the photo. He had discovered this photo long ago, and it was precisely what made him realize there were truly Mutants in this World. He hadn't thought much of it at the time, but now he could take the opportunity to tell Logan about his past without leaking heavenly secrets. "This is you, right? I've talked with Captain, and he said the days fighting side by side with you were super cool. By the way, do you mind if I tell Steve about you? He'd definitely be very glad to see you. Seriously, that guy is actually quite lonely."

Logan stared at the photo, his pupils suddenly dilating: "This... this is me?"

The other Mutants also crowded over to look at the photo, each of them unable to hold back a gasp.

"Holy crap," Xavier exclaimed.

"How did I never notice this before!" Jean also cried out.

Peter shrugged: "I just have slightly stronger observation skills."

"Peter, you don't know how big of a deal you just made. Logan... no, James has amnesia, he knows nothing about his past, and now..." Xavier stopped halfway through his sentence, unable to continue.

"Now I know." Logan flipped rapidly through the pages, trying to find more information, but in the end, he just cursed: "Dammit! There's basically nothing in this thing!"

"Calm down, Logan. This in itself is a huge breakthrough. Since we now know where to start, we will definitely find more." Xavier pacified him.

Logan threw the book back to Peter with a low growl, "Tell Rogers I want to talk to him." His voice gradually deepened, and finally he added gloomily, "And, kid... thanks."

Peter blinked: "Ah... you're welcome?" His performance just now was probably Oscar-worthy, because they actually believed it entirely.

Not long after, the girls and Peter got back into the car and embarked on the return trip. This time Felicia grabbed the front passenger seat, while Mary Jane and Liz Allan fell asleep in the back. The journey was silent, but various thoughts churned in Peter's mind.

There was one thing he had been deliberately avoiding. Ever since Uncle Ben mentioned that his dad had a storage room downtown, where this delorean and other relics were previously kept... his curiosity could no longer be suppressed. What on Earth was still in there? Could it provide clues telling him what Richard Parker had actually done to "that book of Peter's"?

Anyway, it was time to check out that storage room. But a voice deep inside his heart told him that this was likely going to be the beginning of something truly dangerous.

Sigh, damn comic book World.