Nom nom nom
"Give me more chicken thighs— wait no, a Big Mac!"
"One full bowl of rice and pickled mustard greens for me!"
"Let me get… uhhh… Chocolate Spaghetti!"
"Baguette!"
The sounds of furious eating echoed throughout the entire cafeteria.
The chefs were working their asses off, sweating bullets because they never expected everyone to have such monstrous appetites.
Especially the fat kids from that one chubby school.
"Come on Peter, eat something!" Harry slung his arm around my shoulder and tore into a lamb shank.
"Can't you see I'm already eating?" I held up my chocolate bar.
"Why a chocolate bar of all things?"
"I'm not as starving as Gwen."
Both of us immediately turned to look at Gwen, who was eating very "gracefully"… if you consider having more than a dozen empty bowls stacked neatly beside her graceful.
"Ah! Want some?" Gwen cheerfully offered me a bowl overflowing with food.
It was pure grease—no veggies, nothing green in sight.
"I'm good," I said, feeling my stomach turn just looking at it.
"Oh yeah, Peter, take a photo for me later, okay?" Harry grinned at me.
Of course I agreed. Who says no to a friend?
"Ayy Peterboi!" Suddenly Pietro appeared out of nowhere and threw an arm around me.
"Huh?"
"Don't 'huh' me! Mind if we sit here? We're all part of the same mutant community, gotta stick together, right?"
"Wait, there's more of you?"
"Hi!"
Kitty, Bobby, Jubilee, and Scott all showed up.
The moment Harry saw Jubilee, he immediately hid behind Gwen, leaving Jubilee utterly confused.
"The more the merrier, I don't mind at all."
"Sweet! Knew you'd be chill!"
And just like that, the whole gang crowded around my table.
"Hey hey hey! Don't forget about me, Onii-chan~"
That super-familiar voice sent chills down my spine and cold sweat down my back.
"Wade? Do you even have money to pay for food here?" Scott asked, bewildered.
"Of course I do! I may look broke as hell, but I've got cash in my pockets!"
"WADE! THAT'S MY MONEY, ISN'T IT?!" Colossus bellowed.
"…Metal Man's wallet. I bet he won't mind."
"I VERY MUCH MIND!"
"Dammit! I thought your ears were just decorative belly buttons?!"
"What the hell are you talking about?"
Wade then shook his ass, scanned the table, hip-bumped Gwen out of the way—
"?!?!" Gwen looked utterly baffled as Wade rubbed his butt all over the chair and leaned his head against me.
"Ohhh~ Smells like señorita~ How old are you again? 15? Guess I'll have to wait three more years by Western standards. If this were Asia we'd already be married—"
"Alright, enough. I'm not gay," I glared at him.
"Neither am I."
"OI OI! GET OUT OF MY SEAT! THAT SEAT BELONGS TO ME!" Gwen grabbed Wade by the head and tried to drag him away.
"When… did you two get so close?" Kitty asked, confused.
"…" I looked away to dodge the question.
"Oh right, we never properly introduced ourselves to you, did we?" Kitty said warmly.
"You're Katherine Anne Pryde, that's Robert Drake, that one's Jubilation Lee, and that's Scott Summers," I rattled off.
"…How do you know all our full names?"
I just pointed at Wade, who was currently getting beaten to a bloody pulp by Gwen.
"…Oh right. He introduced us the exact same way the first time we met. Is that… normal?" Kitty scratched her head and looked at Bobby.
"That's normal? He only knows because he asked Wade. Why would Wade even tell him?" Bobby shot back. (Funny that Wade will tell him with no hesitation)
"Umm…"
Jubilee raised her hand, grabbing everyone's attention.
"What is it, Lee?" Scott, who had barely spoken until now, asked.
"Harry, what's your full name?"
Harry jumped like he'd been electrocuted. Somehow he was now hiding behind me (since when??).
Why is he so scared? Isn't having a girl crush on you a good thing?
"Uh… well… ehhh… Harry Porter!"
"Nice lying."
"Harry Bum Hairless!"
"I suggest you tell the truth."
"…Harold Theopolis Osborn."
"Pretty name."
Everyone stared at Jubilee, then at Harry.
Why do I feel like if Harry ever dates Jubilee, he'll end up as a dried-up husk with his life force completely drained?
"By the way, Peter," Pietro suddenly asked, "if you're a mutant, why don't you use your powers more openly? I only ever see you use them when nobody's looking."
[Ooh, tough question! Let's see how you answer this one—]
"I just want a peaceful life."
[And you ruined the moment.]
What did you expect me to say? That I want to reveal my powers and have every villain on the planet target me? Oh wait, you're Nya.
"That's really it?" Pietro raised an eyebrow.
"What, you want a deeper reason?" I scratched my head.
"Eh… fair enough. You're that strong anyway, you can do whatever you want with your powers."
Everyone here is weirdly chill, huh?
"Speaking of which, Senpai~" Wade leaned his head on my shoulder again.
"Stop calling me that."
"Fine then, darling♪ Rumor has it… you make games, right?"
The entire table went dead silent and turned to stare at me.
"…Yeah. You guys looked me up or something?"
"No, I literally just found out," Bobby was still in shock.
"I'm not talking about the ones who joined the sports festival—I mean the mutants who were just watching."
"Oh."
I swear I put my hand on my chin and started thinking.
Actually, letting mutants know I'm a game dev isn't a big deal. It's not like it's some huge secret.
In fact, it might even be good—if they know I make games…
…that means they'll 'support' me by playing my games, right?
At that exact moment, almost every mutant on the planet felt a chill run down their spine.
Half of it was nameless dread… and the other half was the feeling of their wallets spontaneously combusting.
The second one was way scarier.
"Why do I suddenly feel like some capitalist pig is eyeing my wallet?" Kitty shivered.
"You're just imagining things," I said with a straight face.
And just like that, we kept chatting happily. Acquaintances became friends.
They treat me well, so why wouldn't I treat them well in return?
Harry has someone crushing on him, Gwen is… eh, whatever, leave her be. As for me, I can just ask them to give me money— I mean, review my games and tell me what they think.
Super chill, no drama, no grudges.
I wish life could just stay like this forever—no life-threatening crises, just enjoying every day. That'd be perfect.
I smiled softly, took another bite of my chocolate bar, and looked out the cafeteria door.
…There was a familiar silhouette standing there.
"…?"
This time, a few mutants in the room suddenly felt something was off. They stared at the figure—especially Logan.
And then Beast's eyes shot wide open as he roared.
"EVERYONE GET DO—"
RATATATATATATATA!!