Brad and Charles talked about many things, and each was impressed by certain qualities in the other's thinking.
Charles admired the foresight in Brad's words.
Brad, in turn, was astonished by Charles's resilience.
By his beautiful vision of getting human society to accept mutants, even if he had to brave blades and fire to achieve it.
In the end, Brad became vice principal and also took over the Ideological and Political Studies classes Charles had always taught.
For the first time in his life, Brad stood at the front of a classroom.
Even if this school was rather unconventional.
Ideological and Political Studies was boring.
That was the unanimous opinion of everyone who had taken Charles's classes.
Charles had always overlooked one thing.
He simply enveloped and protected his students with boundless love, but he had never considered that he himself had been born into privilege, received a good education, and had plenty of time throughout his life to reflect on these matters.
He had no way of making his students connect with those reflections.
Access to education in the United States had always been garbage.
Yes, garbage, though that involved issues of social structure and history.
In short, the vast majority of young mutants lacked the ability to think independently.
Most of them had never even gone to school.
So Professor Charles's Ideological and Political Studies classes were more of an ordeal for them.
Most of them spent their days thinking about how to look cooler in combat class and earn higher marks.
That was why Brad opened his first lesson by asking the students a question.
"What do you think makes someone strong?"
That certainly got everyone engaged.
"Mr. Logan! I've seen him fight. Those claws are so cool!"
"Scott's the strongest! His beams can melt anything!"
"Have any of you considered the principal?"
Brad let them discuss it freely for more than ten minutes.
Just as I thought. All they know is comparing combat power. A bunch of morons.
Brad stood beside the teacher's desk with his eyes closed, gently tapping its surface with an index-finger knuckle as he waited to see whether anyone would give him the answer he wanted.
Eventually, Quentin, the boy with pink hair, stood up.
"Mr. Brad, you're not going to say you're the strongest, are you?"
Of course he refused to accept that. After Scott had talked him through their last encounter, Quentin had realized Brad had led him into a verbal trap.
That made him resent Brad even more, but considering the outcome last time, Quentin had realized that his own words and thinking were indeed somewhat lacking.
So, almost instinctively, he wanted to know what Brad thought.
"I think my idea of what makes someone strong is a little different from yours."
"It's not a killing contest where the more people you kill, the stronger you are."
"Anyone can raise a blade against another person because of some encouragement, hatred, prejudice, emotion, or even justice."
"That's what it means to say that killing and burning are easy."
"But not everyone can live well, learn, and ultimately move toward a perfect life because of justice, emotion, or even encouragement, hatred, and prejudice."
"Anyone can kill. You, me, your teacher Logan, your friend Scott, even Principal Charles."
"But have you seen everyone's lives getting any better?"
"Achieving the life you want, or even just staying alive-that's the difficult part so many people can't manage."
"You can't do it. Logan can't do it. Scott can't do it either. Especially those last two. You might think their constant frowns look cool, but the hatred in their hearts, their fear-driven prejudices, and the pressure on their shoulders are almost suffocating them."
The youngsters froze.
They remembered how they had all seen Scott looking troubled so often, sometimes unconsciously stooping as he walked, as though he were always carrying something terribly heavy.
They had all seen how, whenever Mr. Logan taught history, he seemed shrouded in sorrow and other indescribable feelings. The grief in his eyes was startling.
It wasn't that they couldn't see it. But they were young, with barely enough room for their own troubles. How could they comprehend someone else's?
For a moment, the classroom fell silent.
Brad thought that was about enough for this lesson. Without knowledge and experience to ground them, young people wouldn't sustain this kind of constructive reflection for long, even if they were briefly drawn into it.
But unexpectedly, Quentin stood up.
"What about you, sir? When you gave your second set of examples, you didn't mention yourself or Principal Charles."
"Do you think you and the principal are both strong?"
Brad stopped just as he was about to leave the classroom.
From what he had seen so far, Quentin was the only truly promising student in the entire classroom.
Not because of his ability, but because of certain qualities in the way he thought.
"Of course. Your principal and I are both strong. Even without mutant abilities, we would still be strong."
"We're both walking steadily toward a seemingly impossible goal."
"Of course, I'm a little stronger than your principal. He needs a sense of belonging. Without companions, your principal would fall into sorrow and despair. So his strength isn't quite strong enough."
"But I'm different. It's almost impossible that anyone beside me will travel with me to the very end. I've always thought of myself as a lone traveler. Even without companions, without recognition, even if everything I pursue comes to nothing in the end, I'll simply find every possible way to try again."
Quentin couldn't hold back. Once again, he couldn't hold back, because he deeply admired Principal Charles, and admired and trusted Logan and Scott as well. Yet Brad had now disparaged all three, without sparing a single one.
"Aren't you being a little full of yourself?"
Quentin stubbornly met Brad's gaze.
Brad smiled. His electronic eye fixed on Quentin, rotating slowly, its blue light glowing faintly.
"A lone traveler doesn't need recognition. But as for your principal..."
"Perhaps one day, your principal really will end up in that position. I hope you'll still remember what I said when that happens. Then you'll know just how right I was."
Brad left the classroom. He enjoyed the feeling of lecturing others, and he planned to find Logan and have a drink.
Inside the classroom, Emma Frost lay across her desk, unable to help feeling a little sad.
It had happened just now, when Brad had called himself a lone traveler.
But soon, Emma Frost perked up again, a new idea forming in her little head.
She would become a lone traveler too!
And her goal would be to support Brad, a fellow lone traveler.
There was no contradiction in that. Even if she received no support or recognition, even if she ultimately couldn't stand beside Mr. Brad to face whatever he kept hidden in his heart.
Then she would do what Brad had said. At worst, she would try again!
As for Quentin, he stood blankly in place.
His mind was in turmoil once again.
Was what Brad said this time sophistry?
But there wasn't even an argument, was there?
Why can I never understand these grand principles?
He hadn't been interested in what Professor Charles used to teach, and that was one thing. But with what Brad said, he truly wanted to understand why.
Why could Brad defy the conventions of ordinary teachers? Why could he be so certain?
Why, when Mr. Brad looked at him, did even that mysterious mechanical, bionic eye seem to hold something profound, something more complex than he could describe in words?
Just how arrogant is this man, to think nothing even of me, when I can become the Dark Phoenix in the future?
Yes, Quentin's consciousness had once reached the distant future.
Just like all those destined to host the Phoenix Force, including Jean Grey, who was currently a grade below him, and Scott.
They had all seen a future in which they became hosts of the Phoenix.
They were destined, at some particular point in time, to wield that incredible cosmic power, then face certain trials and save universes on the brink of destruction.
Does Mr. Brad think even people like that aren't fit to stand beside him?
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