When it comes to "Blink", the most famous version is probably the one played by Fan Bingbing in the X-Men: Days of Future Past universe.
Next would be the Asian girl from The Gifted universe.
But no matter which version of Blink it is, her main power is basically the same—opening portals. More specifically, she can open space portals anywhere she wants to teleport or move things.
In the shows and movies, however, Blink's powers have been toned down considerably. She became more of a supporting character, like a healer.
Raymond wasn't sure which version of Blink his adopted sister was closer to, because there are way too many parallel universes in Marvel. And based on his current observation, the world he was in didn't match any of the known Marvel universes. At most, it was vaguely similar to some of them.
But judging by the name Clarice Fong and the fact that she was still in high school, she was probably closer to Blink from The Gifted universe.
Even though their backgrounds were slightly different, overall they were quite similar.
Based on this clue, it was very likely that this girl would soon come in contact with the "Mutant Underground", or maybe she already had.
Raymond had deliberately tested her earlier to see if she was hiding anything.
And sure enough, his test had revealed something.
"Am I just thinking too much, or is it really like that... Looks like I'm going to have to play stalker for once." Raymond made up his mind to follow Clarice after school.
If it turned out that she had already contacted them, then as her big brother, he'd have to step in and cut off her connection to this useless group.
Even though the Mutant Underground was chosen by Professor X and could be seen as a backup or little brother to the X-Men, they were nowhere near as strong as the X-Men.
The X-Men couldn't even change much or solve the conflict between mutants and normal people. So what good was a group that was even worse than the X-Men?
To be honest, Raymond wasn't too worried about Clarice's safety.
With her powers, unless she was super unlucky, she should be able to protect herself pretty well.
Even in the dangerous world of The Gifted, that version of Blink managed to survive again and again, which says a lot.
But in that universe, Blink's parents got into trouble and were killed because of her involvement with the Mutant Underground.
Sure, this world was clearly different from that one, and with Raymond around, even if Clarice got into trouble, her parents probably wouldn't get hurt.
Still, accidents could happen at any time.
He couldn't watch over her 24/7, every day of the year. Who knew—one day he might come home and find the whole family lying there?
Even if he hunted down and killed every last person responsible, it would already be too late.
From his point of view, the Mutant Underground was nothing but trouble. A useless group that always made things worse instead of better.
Getting too close to them would only do more harm than good.
Of course, that was just Raymond's assumption based on The Gifted universe. Maybe this world didn't even have a Mutant Underground.
...
Riiiing—!
When the bell rang, signaling the end of class, the students rushed out of the classroom like they were flying. Most of the boys ran off to play, while most of the girls slowly packed their bags.
Clarice was no exception.
Just then, someone tapped her on the shoulder from behind. "Clary, a new Chinese restaurant just opened near the school. Irene and I are going to try it. Wanna come with us?"
"Come with us, Clary!" another girl added.
Clarice looked like she was deep in thought, and the sudden call startled her. Then she realized it was her close friends, Michelle and Irene.
"No, it's fine. I've got something to do later... You two go ahead."
Michelle raised her eyebrows slightly, but didn't push her. "All right then, we'll go. If it's okay, we'll take you there tomorrow."
"Okay, sure." Clarice nodded quickly.
Michelle said nothing more and left with Irene.
"What's wrong, Mich? Are you feeling unwell?" Irene asked worriedly once they were a bit further away from the classroom. Michelle didn't look quite right.
"I'm fine. It's Clary that seems off," Michelle said with some hesitation.
"Clarice? What about her?"
"Her reaction just now wasn't normal... She's definitely hiding something from me."
"Isn't it normal to keep secrets? Haven't you kept things from her?" Irene asked with a cheeky smile.
"That's not what I mean." Michelle shook her head. "Of course it's normal to have some secrets, but the way she reacted just now wasn't about some little secret... it felt like something more serious."
"Maybe you're overthinking it?"
"No, I know her too well. She's been acting weird lately. I think she might be in some kind of trouble and doesn't want to talk about it."
"Well, if you're so worried, why don't we check it out?" Irene suggested.
"Check it out?" Michelle was surprised.
"Yes! That restaurant isn't going anywhere. Why don't we play detectives like Sherlock Holmes?" Irene said excitedly.
For girls her age, the idea of being a detective was full of excitement and mystery. The chance to try it out was hard to resist.
"You mean follow Clary? Isn't that a bit too much?" Michelle hesitated.
"What's wrong with it? You're just worried about her. And if it turns out that you were wrong, she won't even notice that we followed her... But if she really is in trouble and just too shy to ask for help, then she should be grateful, not upset."
Michelle was already worried, and Irene's words convinced her.
After a brief discussion, they hid around the corner of the hallway, secretly watching the door to Clarice's classroom.
Soon Clarice came out of the classroom with her backpack.
"There she is! Hide!" Irene whispered the moment she saw her.
The two girls quickly crouched down, peeking carefully like sneaky little spies.
As soon as Clarice left the school gate, they quietly followed her at a distance, far enough that even if she looked back, she wouldn't spot them right away.
They kept following her like that.
After walking some distance from the school, Clarice suddenly stopped at the side of the road. She looked around, then pulled out her phone and called someone.