“Cheers!” Click!

All of us cheered happily as we clinked our coke cans together.

“Finally, the final exams are over.” Kurt said, clearly the happiest among all of us.

All of us students wanted to go on a trip since the final exams were finished but unfortunately that was just not in our fate. After the alien invasion and the attack on the X-Mansion by Xu Wenwu, there was simply no chance that the teachers would have allowed us to go on a trip.

As such, it was decided as a compromise that we would have a small barbecue party in the mansion’s garden. So, here we are, eating barbecue and drinking coke.

“This barbecue party is great but I still wanted to go on a trip. Besides, now that we have portals, we can go literally anywhere on Earth. We could tour Venice in the day and have a dinner in Paris at night. There was so much we could have done.” Kurt said, his voice filled with regret as he lamented the lost chance.

“At least, the teachers are allowing this much. Even the prom was cancelled this year at the school because of the alien invasion.

I had even asked a girl for the prom after gathering some courage and she had even agreed. And then the school decided to cancel the prom entirely because of the alien invasion.”

Bobby said, raging at the unfairness of the world. It was honestly a great step for him especially considering what had happened at his previous date.

“Indeed, it was a great travesty.” Even Scott, the stoic and stern guy agreed with Bobby.

However, I along with almost everyone else knew why Scott was so sad that the prom had been cancelled. It was because he was going to ask Jean for the prom.

This was no secret among us that Scott liked Jean. I believe only Jean herself along with Bobby, the new guy and Kurt, the oblivious one didn't know about this matter.

Well, I also know that Emma was going to ask me to join the prom as her date. But unfortunately, it just was not fated.

“At least, we have today. The training is going to be even tougher from now on since we are going to officially join the X-Men soon.” Jean said, reminding us of the hardships ahead.

Before, we could only be said to be interns in the X-Men. But now we were going to be the official members of the X-Men and as a result, our training was going to be even harder than before so that we could handle any kind of situation in the future.

At first, most of us had only joined the X-Men since it felt fun and because of a desire to help people. But after the Battle of New York, everyone felt what having powers meant and what kind of responsibilities they brought with them. As such, everyone was determined in their decision to be a part of the X-Men.

“Even our college life is going to be non existent because of it since we won't be able to attend the college for even a whole month.” Kurt said regretfully since our college life was going to be over before it even started.

Professor Xavier had with a little help from SHIELD, organised our admission in the Empire State University. However, we would only go there if it was absolutely necessary. The rest of the time, our studies would only be through recordings.

One reason for this decision was that we would be mostly busy in the training and mystic arts studies. Ancient One had asked all of us students to be honorary sorcerers since most of us already had this position. So, all the students were now going to be studying mystic arts although it was unlikely that they would find much success in it.

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The main reason, however was the fear that our identities could be accidentally revealed while we attended the college.

The X-Men were currently world famous because of our role in the Battle of New York. As such, our popularity was at an all time high and everyone was searching for our identity.

But it also meant that the anger in the anti-mutant organisations was at its peak since their very foundation was in danger now. So, it was better for us to be out of public sight if possible.

“Still, I can't believe that you are going to be learning from some of the world's greatest minds,Peter. Tony Stark and Bruce Banner. It's like a dream coming true for you, right?” Kitty said since Mr. Stark had officially invited me as an intern in Stark Industries.

He had been quite impressed by me during the time we worked together and wanted to continue working with me. Moreover, Dr. Banner was often with us, working to crack the Chitauri technology. As such, I got to learn a lot from them and my achievements in the field of science were increasing day by day.

“That's true. But you don't need to be jealous, Kitty. After all, everyone is improving by leaps and bounds.” I said, reminding her of how much everyone had improved.

“Yeah! I can do this now.” Kurt said as he showed us the can in his hand. Then, the can suddenly disappeared and dropped into a garbage bin nearby.

This was a secondary mutation which had developed in Kurt's body a few days ago, perhaps due to him learning mystic arts and exploring his spatial affinity. He could now teleport small objects despite not teleporting himself. However, the distance he could teleport was not that much long for now.

Kitty could now phase only parts of her body while Scott had learnt how to lower his energy beam’s intensity and even enhance it momentarily.

Meanwhile, Bobby had the most intense improvement. His ice powers had improved so much that he could now completely cover himself in a layer of ice. That is why he had chosen the name, ‘Iceman’.

“Hey, Emma! Can you come with me for a moment? I need to tell you something.” I said in a rather nervous tone to Emma who was sitting beside me.

“Of course, Peter.” Emma said with a smile as she stood up along with me. Perhaps she understood what I wanted to tell her.

“Has Peter finally gathered enough courage to ask her out?” I could hear everyone talking about us behind our back as we walked away.

“So, what did you want to tell me, Peter?” Emma asked once we reached a rather secluded spot in the garden. Her voice was filled with nervousness even though she had an inking of what I wanted to tell her.

“As you have guessed, I am finally ready to enter into a relationship with you. Are you still willing, Emma?” I asked her.

I had given it a lot of thought before deciding to finally move on from the past and discover the future. A lot of time had passed since the incident which turned me into who I am now. I was finally ready to look above that incident and believe in who I am now, not who I was.

Moreover, I knew that Emma would not always be waiting for me. Despite us not going to spend much time in college, I knew that she was serious about her studies. She was an ambitious woman who wanted to become super rich someday. But I also knew that she wanted me to be at her side throughout the journey.

“Of course, I am willing.” As she said these words, Emma immediately closed the distance between us and kissed me on the cheek. I would say that she was feeling rather bold these days.

“Did you like it?” Emma asked mischieviously.

“How could I not?” I said, still blushing from the sudden kiss.

“So, when is our first date?” Emma asked excitedly.

“I was thinking of—”

Ring! Ring!

A sudden call on my phone unfortunately ruined the atmosphere between us.

“Who is it at this time?” Emma asked, frustrated that the romantic atmosphere between us was ruined.

“Huh! Why would Captain Stacy call at this time?” I said, surprised by the caller’s identity.

“Hello, Captain Stacy! Why did you call?” I asked as I picked up the call.

“Peter, has Gwen called you today about anything?” Captain Stacy asked, his voice tinged with worry for some reason.

“No, I had last talked with her yesterday. What's the matter?” I asked, worried about Gwen.

“Her phone is switched off. Moreover, even the tracker I had asked her to put on her phone so that I could always track her is untraceable. I have a feeling that something is afoot.” Captain Stacy explained the whole matter.

“What? I am coming right away, Captain Stacy. Don't worry.” I said, worried about Gwen's situation.