[He raises an eyebrow.]

Sidekicks? Now this is starting to sound like comic book stuff. No offense! But all I had to was attend this school... for young people with special abilities. [He's a little hesitant about bringing up the word "mutant" so early in knowing someone.] They taught us to use our powers constructively, for good. And those good things just wound up being superhero-y things most of the time.