Inside Old Parker's courtyard...
Heborong wore a diaper and a pair of long socks Aunt May had made herself. He was crouched beside a pile of leaves in the courtyard.
The little guy couldn't have been more than two, but he could already run and jump...
The child had a pair of golden snake eyes and feet that looked like dragon claws.
This little freak Alvin had brought back from the Himalayas had brought the Old Parker family plenty of joy—and quite a few headaches.
Fortunately, Old Parker was well liked in Hell's Kitchen, and the child had been brought back by Alvin...
No one looked at him strangely, which made life a lot easier for Aunt May, who cared for Heborong at home every day.
Someone had once suggested getting the child a pair of sunglasses and some high boots.
But May and Old Parker had firmly refused...
In the couple's eyes, Heborong had no reason to hide anything. It wasn't a defect...
There were plenty of freaks in Hell's Kitchen. Peter Parker was one himself, in a way.
But the people here had developed a habit that wasn't easy to call either good or bad...
"I'm me, and I don't care if you look at me strangely. If you take it too far, I'll beat you up!"
The younger generation of Hell's Kitchen would never feel ashamed of being different...
Nick's disability, Richard's ugliness...
Even Julie, who had already made a name for herself, had never hidden her dark past.
The Mutant Union was even more crowded with freaks...
But most of New York's Mutants had gradually gotten used to their changes and put their lives back on track.
Old Parker had always believed that "hiding" a child's differences would only make the child sensitive and insecure.
If