Garrick and Grant were currently panicked at the moment, but there was nothing they could do. Grant couldn't accept that his daughter was likely a mutant, but in his heart of hearts, he knew she had to be.
"Could it be that we have some sort of mutant gene? How could both our children become mutants?"
Garrick speculated to himself, but why didn't he receive any powers?
"Damn it! It's just as the news said, once they awaken their powers, they become dangerous. That table almost crushed Grace; she only yelled, and the table went flying."
Grant's expression had somehow darkened, and he also wondered how Grace had disappeared. Could it be that she has become a mutant as well, with teleportation as her power?
"Uncle, the news and the stuff they tell is a lie. It instills fear in people and makes them feel like they will replace us one day. The only difference between a human and a mutant is the special gene they unlock called the X-gene. This gene grants them their powers and abilities, but other than that, they're the same as us."
Gan was listening in and came over to speak to them. Currently, his cousins were talking to their grandparents, who didn't care about them becoming mutants. However, they were worried about them being discriminated against, which may lead to harm.
"Gan, how would you know something like that? Have you seen that guy on the news who can control metals? He was crazy and attacked some humans who were trying to calm him down."
Gan sighed in his heart. Those things were all taken out of context from what was really going on. Individuals were easily deceived by such matters; maybe if he truly belonged to this world, he would accept it as real.
Gan didn't respond; he could only shake his head in response.
"Also, Grace isn't a mutant; Galadan's powers seemed to be related to space. It was likely him who teleported her out of harm's way."
Gan said these words and left for the next room where his cousins, brothers, and sister were.
Grant's eye twitched, but he also didn't respond to Gan. However, Irelia thought it made sense, since she had heard that Galadan's hand had gone through some dimensional space.
"This is amazing, you guys have powers now, I'm so jealous." Galen sighed when he remembered what he had witnessed.
"Amazing! I'm almost crushed Grace with a table! How is this amazing?!" Gloria was instantly enraged.
Unknowingly, she forcefully pushed Galen back slightly.
"Wow, wow, calm down, cousin, I wasn't glorifying that action!" Galen hurriedly explained. He felt an unknown force from Gloria was a bit terrified.
"Gloria! Girl! Get yourself under control and stop lashing out before you hurt someone." Their Grandmother reprimanded.
"Sorry, sorry, Galen. I don't know how to control them yet." Gloria quickly apologized to Galen.
"It's alright, at least no one was hurt when your powers awakened back there. I'm just saying that it's nice to have powers, but they should be trained and controlled."
Galen wasn't mad because he knew his cousin wouldn't hurt him. She just needed to control her newfound abilities.
"What you have is a Gift. No matter how you look at it, this is absolutely the case. Unfortunately, the world won't see it that way, and will attack you for what and who you are."
Their grandfather saw these powers as gifts rather than something negative. He encouraged his grandkids and hoped that they wouldn't feel demoralized.
'Oh, they will hear and experience many demoralizing situations.' Gan knew otherwise, but this was the best they could hear for now.
"You've awakened what they call an X-gene. This is what gives you your powers; you're no different from us, except that you've awakened that gene."
Gan was listening near the entrance before walking over and patting Galan on the back. Galan kept staring at his hand because of the strange force in his body from earlier. By this point, the energy had subsided thanks to Gan.
"An X-gene? You mean an X-chromosome?" Galan looked up and asked.
"No. They function completely differently from an X chromosome." This was all Gan could tell him.
"Where did you hear or read this? Are there articles online about these types of things?" Gianna wanted to research more about this to better understand her situation.
"I've read a few things, but they were quickly deleted from the internet. I'll just tell this cousin, people will hate you because of what you are. There's a lot of anti-mutant sentiment, which could put your life in danger."
Gan warned them all about the dangers they would face.
"Will you guys hate us for what we've become?" Galan asked.
"No." Garen was the first to answer.
"I will admit that power scared me at first, but in the end, you guys are still our cousins. I couldn't hate you because of the gifts you've gained." Grace smiled and patted Galan's shoulders and assured him.
"I'm not dumb enough to hate on someone because of their talents. Nor would I believe the false propaganda from the news to demonize mutants." Gan was never this type; he would only feel sad that he didn't have any talents for himself.
"Thanks, guys." Gianna sighed in relief while smiling. She was truly relieved to hear this, but she wasn't quite sure her mom and dad were okay with it.
'Oh...' Gan turned, it was just as he had hoped.
No one could hear or see it, but Gan could see and hear a Jet hover overhead. The Jet then flew elsewhere, as two figures exited it. They made sure to do this in a secluded location where they couldn't be seen.
This Jet was invisible, so no one could see it to begin with.
'It looks like it's about that time.' Gan recognized these two people; they were Jean Grey and Charles Xavier.
Jean was using her telekinetic abilities to safely descend with Xavier. The X-Jet flew off soon after; it would seem that Jean would call Storm later. Ororo was still relatively new to the X-Men at this time.
Gan turned away, as he knew what was to come. He still continued to converse with his cousins, but his brother Garen remained in a daze over their newfound powers. Garen couldn't get that image out of his head: those portals, the strange glow from Galan, and the flipping table.
"It seems Giovanni is the only cousin who didn't awaken any powers. I don't know if this is your fortune or misfortune."
Galen noticed that Giovanni wasn't saying anything; it looked as if he was in a daze. However, Gan knew the truth; he was also a mutant and had awakened.
"It's no problem for me, I'm just thinking about what happened earlier. This experience is a lot to take in." Giovanni smiled, but it looked strained.
Gan laughed to himself when he heard those words. He knew in his heart of hearts that he was a mutant. Once he had awakened, Gan had spoken telepathically to him in his head.
Gan's voice sounded different telepathically, but what Gan said to him was four words: 𝐀𝐮𝐫𝐚 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐌𝐮𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭. Gan repeated this phrase three times to Giovanni in a deep hoarse voice.-
'He's trying to look and stay composed.' Giovanni couldn't hide from Gan; this was too funny.
By this point, Professor X and Jean Grey were in the living room, conversing with their parents.
Gan listened in on their conversation keenly.
"Yes, I would like to initiate Galan, Galadan, Gloria, Gianna, and Giovanni in my learning institute for the gifted. This will protect them from persecution from their peers and the public. They'll also learn how to use their abilities for the greater good."
Xavier's tone was calm and soothing to the ears. Jean Grey stood behind Xavier, silently listening and observing them.
"Hold on! Are you saying Giovanni is a mutant as well? He didn't show any powers when that chaos occurred." Grant's expression didn't look so good. Could it be that his other child had become a mutant?
"An Awakening doesn't necessarily require a dramatic or chaotic awakening. His abilities are likely less chaotic in nature, or they could be more tamed and need more training to fully control."
Grant and Garrick looked at each other; it looked like they had lost all of their kids. What could they do? They couldn't with regular school anymore, or it would spell trouble.
It was best to secretly send them off to this school where they'd fit in. They knew very well that mutants weren't welcome in most places.
How could Jean and Charles not know their thoughts; they could hear them clearly. However, what stunned Xavier was the fact that he couldn't hear the thoughts of this woman. Jean didn't think much of it because she was focused on both Grant's and Garrick's thoughts.
Gan hadn't used his powers to protect both his uncles' minds from prying. This, however, was different for his mom, whose thoughts couldn't be seen through.
'This woman is different; she is abnormal.' Charles's mind was strong; how could he be blocked from reading a regular human's thoughts? Not even the thoughts of the Hulk could block his mind from prying into it.
'Was she a superhuman, or perhaps a mutant? No!' These thoughts were immediately dismissed, but he didn't rule out that she could be a superhuman in disguise.
Xavier didn't pry further and turned his attention back to Grant and Garrick. After conversing for a while, both agreed to let them enroll in the Xavier Institute.
Both Garrick and Grant called their children over. Jean smiled when she saw the newly awakened mutants. The number of recruited mutants was still quite low, after all, Jean Grey was still 15 years old.
This meant that Gan's cousins were some of the first mutants recruited. Giovanni began to sweat; it would seem he couldn't hide it.
"What? Giovanni is a mutant, too?" Galen was stunned when he heard what this bald man said.
"I knew it. I heard a strange voice in my head say Replication, Stronger, and Mutant." Giovanni could only sigh before turning to Galen and speaking.
"You five will be enrolling in a different school. This is the head of that school, his name is Xavier from the Xavier Institute for the Gifted."
Garrick was the first to speak up and explain.
"What? What about my friends? I can't just switch schools like that?" Gianna didn't wish to leave her school, where she had many friends.
"If you go to school as a mutant, and they find out, what do you think will happen? There's already a lot of anti-mutant sentiment. You would lose your friends, dignity, and more; leave and make new friends while you still have some dignity left."
Grant didn't care about what she thought or felt about switching schools. This was already a heavy loss for him.
"UGH!" Gianna had an attitude about it, but she knew her dad was right.
"There are many people like you there, you guys can work together and share your experiences. You'll be trained on how to use your gifts with others, and you will make plenty of friends."
Xavier didn't even get a chance to speak before Jean started explaining.
"... ..." Gianna listened and nodded in return. Even though she wanted to refuse, she absolutely had no choice.
Society wouldn't accept her, and she would likely get kicked out of her current school for being a mutant. And if they couldn't blatantly kick her out, they would find some excuse later to do so.
"Well, we can enroll you guys now. We can figure out your abilities in the process and proceed accordingly." Charles smiled; this reaction wasn't uncommon for him.
"Hey, guys, even if you're mutants, this won't change anything between us. Remember that." Garen understood that they wouldn't see their cousins for some time after this. Therefore, he offered them words of support before departing.
"Thank you, Garen. I hope we can see each other again."
"Guys, I'm glad this won't change anything between us."
"Thank guys, for all of this."
Everyone began hugging each other at this time. Grant and Garrick could only sigh at this sight; why did it have to be like this?
"Hey, nice to meet you, Professor Xavier and Jean Grey, I've heard so much." Gan came over with his hand out, wanting to shake their hands.
Jean's eyebrow narrowed. How could this guy know her name?
"It's nice to meet you as well. I'll take care of your cousins, so you won't have to worry." Xavier shook Gan's hand with a smile and said.
Gan also went over to shake Jean's hand, his expression carrying a grin. Jean found that she couldn't read this guy's thoughts, but other than that, there wasn't anything wrong. Was this a guy a superhuman who concocted some mental shield?
Jean didn't expose Gan and gave him a handshake.
After talking to his cousins for a bit more, they set off with Xavier and Jean. After they left, the house descended into silence.
They didn't take any clothes, toothbrushes, or anything; just the clothes on their backs. Xavier said he would provide any essentials they needed or wanted.
"I need to go home." Grant broke the silence, but Garrick also wanted to do this. They needed to alert his wives about what had just happened, but they were sure they would agree.
And just like that, there was only Gan, his siblings, his mom, and his grandparents left. Gan's father had to leave for work, so he wasn't here to begin with. They had rented two rental cars, which was what she was driving.
Gan sat in the kitchen and appeared to be in deep thought.