It was my hand. I had just reached this place with D.A.I.S.Y.'s help and saw the guy harassing this girl.
"Who the hell?" The guy looks back and then up at my face.
"I said, let her go," I say, exerting force on his shoulder, making him wince in pain.
"Let go of me!" The girl tries to yank her hand free and miraculously it passes straight through his hand. Now that she is free, she hurriedly dashes away without looking back.
"Hey, no wait!" The guy yells, but I grip him tightly, preventing him from moving.
"What is your problem, dude?" He says angrily as he tries to strike me with his elbow, but I dodge and let go of his shoulder.
"I will make you pay for getting in my way," he says, punching towards my face.
Instead of engaging, I push him back with a single finger to his chest.
ZAP!
I pass a non-lethal amount of electricity into his body and use a forcefield construct behind his leg, causing him to trip and fall on his back.
"If you go near her again, you will experience ten times more pain," I say, narrowing my eyes at him as he lies paralyzed on the ground. I always hated bullies like him.
I leave him and go after the girl. Professor Xavier and the others must be arriving soon; I had reached here in advance, seeing the girl being bullied through D.A.I.S.Y.'s surveillance.
With D.A.I.S.Y.'s help, I intercept the girl, who is blindly rushing forward with her eyes closed in panic, clutching a Star of David necklace.
"Ouch!" She crashes into my arms, and I grab her to prevent her from falling.
She strains her neck to look up at me because of her small height.
"You are the guy from before. Why can't everyone just, like, leave me alone?" She tries to get away from me.
"Kitty, will you hear me out?" I ask, tapping my neck to deactivate the Anti-Cognitive Mask.
"Lucas Watson?" She exclaims, covering her mouth in disbelief as she looks up at me. "Are you really him? But like, your face was different just now!" She looks at me skeptically.
"It's a nifty piece of technology that lets me move freely without being recognized in public places. But that's not important right now. You are. Kitty, I am here because of your unique powers, the power of phasing," I say with a shine in my eyes.
Yes, the girl in front of me, standing at 5 feet tall, is none other than Katherine Pryde.
In the comics and movies of my previous world, she was a powerful mutant known by many aliases like Ariel, Sprite, Shadowcat, and Shadowkat.
Her ability is a type of phasing, passing through solid objects harmlessly. She goes on to become an integral part of the X-Men in the future. Even becoming the headmistress of the Xavier School.
"Powers? Sorry, like you made a mistake. I-I'm just a normal girl," Kitty says with a scared look, backing away.
I take her hand in mine and activate Angelic Aura to calm her down. "Kitty, we both know that you are not just a normal girl. You are special, and that is why I am here, to help you," I say with a comforting smile.
Kitty looks up at me, calming down a little. "H-How will you help me?" She asks hesitantly.
"Let's sit down somewhere first," I say, taking her to an empty classroom that D.A.I.S.Y. had found for us, still holding her hand.
I sit on a desk, and Kitty sits besides on another. "Now, first, can you start by telling me what you know about your powers?" I ask, wanting to talk to her more until the Professor arrives.
"I-I don't know. Yesterday my head was hurting like crazy all day. I finished my homework and went to bed. I remember vividly dreaming about like flying above the city freely, but suddenly I started falling, and just as I was about to hit the ground, I like woke up in our... basement," Kitty says, looking down with her hands shaking.
I put my hands on hers in comfort, her shaking stops as she continues, "I-I was so scared. I had screamed in panic. Mommy and Daddy came and chalked it up to sleepwalking, but like I could see my bedsheet and pillow on the basement's ceiling. They were stuck there. I-I had like just passed through my bed and floor and fallen into the basement! I-I am some kind of freak!" Kitty says with a pained look.
"You are not a freak. You are just special, just like me," I say as I bring out a flame in my hands.
"H-how? Is this like some kind of trick?" Kitty asks, wonder in her eyes as she looks at the ball of fire in my hand.
"No, Kitty. Just like you, I have unique powers of my own," I say with a smile, closing my palm to make the fire vanish.
"B-but how did I get these powers then? Am I like an alien?" She asks with wide eyes.
"No, Kitty, you are not an alien," I chuckle. "Nor am I. We are still humans, just some humans contain an X-gene in their DNA. You can think of it as a key to unlocking unique powers. It has been present in our bodies through years of mutation and evolution. Once it unlocks, you are granted a power of your own. You can consider it a unique gift," I explain, giving her a crash-course on mutants.
"So is it really a gift?" Kitty asks, looking at her hands in wonder.
"Yes, Kitty, it definitely is," I say as I try to touch her hands, but they pass through as if nothing is there, making us both smile in amusement.
"So like, how did you find out about me? And why are you here? Don't you have like a huge company to run?" Kitty asks, raising an eyebrow.
"There is a school, Kitty. A school for gifted individuals like yourself," I say with a smile, mentally swearing at the Professor for taking so long to arrive.