The XXX-Gene (Marvel)(Mutant OC)

Chapter 65: Biology & More

Chapter 65: Biology & More

A/N: Here's the new Chapter! Which also means the next four chapters are up on my Patreon for early access as well as the chance to vote on the direction of the story!

Heh, I don't think anyone saw this coming...

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Well, that was not his Biology Professor.

That’s the first thought that runs through Thaddeus’ mind as he enters the lecture hall on Monday morning and takes a seat near the back like usual. Admittedly, the year has just started and Thaddeus has missed a few classes, but he’s been to enough to know that his Biology Professor was an old man named Professor Gray.@@@@

Professor Gray is nowhere to be seen this morning though. Instead, standing behind the large mahogany desk at the front of the lecture hall is a beautiful woman with red hair and green eyes, dressed in professional attire that only bordered on inappropriate because of just how gorgeous she was.

Thaddeus isn’t the only one surprised by her appearance, he notes. Many of the others stop and take a long look at her before eventually making their way to their seats. Finally though, the red head seems to decide some arbitrary amount of time has passed and enough are here for her to make her introductions.

“Good morning, students. My name is Madelyne Pryor and I will be your Professor in Biology for the rest of the semester. Unfortunately, Professor Gray is no longer with us, but in the interest of expediency and prudency, the University saw fit to fill his vacancy sooner rather than later.”

“I’d much rather have you teaching me biology than that stuffy old coot anyways, gorgeous! If you know what I mean, hah!”

Thaddeus’ palm meets his face as one of the men down in the front row fails to keep his mouth shut. They’re all adults here. College students one and all. One would THINK that would mean they’d leave the jockish, idiotic behavior behind. Thaddeus certainly had.

Only... if it wasn’t for his mutation, the old him, ‘Chad’, might very well have made a comment just like that. Or at least laughed and high-fived the man who made it. As it is, silence falls over the lecture hall in the wake of the sexist, insensitive words that just spilled from that idiot’s mouth. And worst of all, he’s on the damn football team too.

Thaddeus is just glad he’s sitting in the back and very much out of view of the guy down in the front row, otherwise he might have received an imploring look to ‘back him up’. As is, in the face of the dead silence and Professor Pryor’s withering stare, the jock shrinks back, ultimately hunkering down in his seat and going quiet. Thankfully.

In the end, their new Biology Professor doesn’t deem his words worthy of a response, something the idiot should probably be grateful for. The first line was bad enough, but tacking ‘if you know what I mean’ onto the end of it? EVERYONE knew what he meant, for fuck’s sake...

Either way, Biology continues apace from there. Altogether, even if the lecturer is far more beautiful than their previous Professor, it’s still a little boring to Thaddeus. This was a General Education course after all, and he was a bit beyond this stuff at this point.

It doesn’t really get interesting until near the end of class, when Professor Pryor wraps up her lecture and then pins them all with a surprisingly intense stare.

“Before you all leave, there is one other thing I wish to announce. While I am still formatting and structuring my syllabus in the wake of this short notice, I have decided at the very least that there will be a semester project. This project will be centered around a relatively unexplored aspect of Biology, something that we’ve known about for quite some time, but only truly begun researching more recently. I speak, of course, of the X-Gene.”

That gets everyone’s attention, not just Thaddeus’. The Professor continues on though, undaunted.

“I will have more information regarding the form your projects will take in later classes, but for now, you may begin doing your own research into the X-Gene and the new information surrounding it in order to prepare yourselves. It is not inaccurate to say that the discovery of the X-Gene and how it interacts with our biology has been the greatest discovery in biological sciences since the discovery of DNA itself.”

She sweeps her eyes back and forth across all of them, but Thaddeus would swear that her gaze lingers on him specifically for the briefest of moments before she delivers a crisp, clear...

“Dismissed.”

He almost wants to stick around and maybe strike up a conversation with the Professor after that... and maybe he would have if not for the events at the Gala on Friday Night. No, right now Thaddeus needs something a bit more... normal. That’s why, ultimately, he gets up and walks out, heading for his next class.

Up next on the docket is Math... where again, the old Professor isn’t around. Instead, there’s a severe looking but also beautiful Chinese American woman standing behind the desk who introduces herself as “Professor Shu Wong”. At this point, Thaddeus starts to get suspicious. Perhaps he should have done so with Pryor, but better late than never... as the beautiful Asian Woman starts her own lecture, Thaddeus reaches out telepathically to see what he can glean from her mind.

The first impression he gets is ‘not much’. Her mind is like a steel trap, clearly trained to resist and possibly even detect psychic intrusion. Luckily, Thaddeus is being subtle about things. He doesn’t think he gets caught, even as he barely comes away with any information whatsoever. However, no information is in and of itself some information.

That level of training isn’t the kind of thing a University Professor should be able to boast. Not without a seriously checkered past. No, more than likely... this was enemy action. Had to be. The only question was what sort of enemy Thaddeus was dealing with here. Was Pryor the same? He couldn’t be sure, but there did seem to be minute differences between the two women, specifically in their lecturing.

Madelyne Pryor had actually seemed quite invested in Biology. By comparison, Shu Wong hides it extremely well, but someone with Thaddeus’ senses can tell that she’s not all that interested in Math. So maybe Pryor was the real deal after all. But whoever Shu Wong really is, whoever sent her to ESU... they don’t have good intentions. Thaddeus knows that for a fact.

He's half-expecting the Asian woman to ask him to stay after class or something, but that doesn’t happen. Instead, the lecture ends without incident... and indeed, Professor Wong doesn’t so much as glance in his direction a single time either. But frankly, that just leaves Thaddeus feeling more paranoid than ever.

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And he’s right to be too! Damn it all!

That... actually takes a lot of weight off of his shoulders. Weight that Thaddeus hadn’t even known was there. Knowing at least one of the schemes against him... and the fact that they didn’t know the key component of their scheme was on HIS side... well, that made this all rather humorous, didn’t it?

Unable to help himself, Thaddeus grins as he leans in a little suggestively.

“Are you sure a beautiful woman like you knows what you’re getting into offering help to a man like me, Professor Munroe?”

Far from getting offended, Storm’s eyes glitter in amusement.

“I’m sure you have more than enough women to ‘help’ with that particular side of things, Mister Cummings.”

Ouch, breaking out the last name. Low blow. But then, he supposed he’d started it. Still, in for a penny, in for a pound.

“Mm. I certainly do. And I have just as many women I’m ‘helping’ in turn. You could be one of them, if you’re interested.”

For a long, pregnant moment, Storm just stares at him. But then, much to his surprise, she shakes her head, a rueful smile playing across her lips.

“Like I said before, Thaddeus... power can be as much a curse as it can be a blessing. And contrary to what you might believe, there is such thing as having enough power.”

... Had he just been rejected? Had that ever happened before? Thaddeus certainly couldn’t remember a time. To be fair, Storm was letting him down rather gently. Still, damn. He... didn’t know what to say. In the end, she seems to register that and takes a seat behind her desk before giving him a nod.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Thaddeus.”

Slowly nodding, he walks out of the lecture hall in a bit of a daze. Him? Turned down for sex? Was that even legal?

Funnily enough, given that silly thought, his very next class was Criminal Justice. And thankfully, when he enters the room, the normal professor is sat behind his desk. A mousy sort of man named Neville Norbert; their Criminal Justice Professor was the sort of guy who would probably get eaten alive nine times out of ten in any court room he ever stepped foot in. And the tenth would be because they felt sorry for him.

Still, those who do... do. Those who can’t, teach. Professor Norbert may not have had the constitution to be a lawyer, but he was a half-decent Professor so far, even if it was still early in the semester.

Thaddeus was just glad that the man hadn’t been replaced... yet. Shit, should he say something to someone? Warn them that all of his Professors were in danger of being disappeared? That some already had been... ‘taken care of’?

Sitting down with that worry running through his head, Thaddeus is barely paying attention at first as Professor Norbert rises from his chair and clears his throat.

“A-Ahem! I have a special surprise for you all today, everyone! I know you probably love the sound of my reedy little voice...”

Some titters of laughter at the self-deprecation.

“... but I had an old friend and colleague reach out and express an interest in delivering a series of guest lectures to my classes this semester! Needless to say, I jumped at the chance! Therefore, I want everyone to give a big warm welcome to Jennifer Susan Walters, an incomparable and talented lawyer, good friend of mine... and oh yes, also She-Hulk of the Avengers!”

The class erupts as Jennifer strides out in full form, though also wearing professional clothing over her tall, robust, green body. Thaddeus, meanwhile, feels his jaw drop open in disbelief and...

“Oh COME ON!”

It’s a moment before he realizes the exclamation came from his own lips as all eyes in the lecture hall turn towards him. To be fair, it’s a very, very rare lapse of self-control for the young man...

Still, he can feel himself flushing, even as Jen crosses her arms over her chest and raises an eyebrow at him, smirking all the while.

For fuck’s sake... you kill one shadowy criminal mutant kingpin on a Friday and by Monday suddenly it’s like the entire world wants a piece of you...

-x-X-x- The Vote: [ ] Stick with Thaddeus' POV - 31%

[X] Switch to She-Hulk's POV - 69%

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