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*****
"Stop!"
Emma's voice once again rang inside the children's minds, rare urgency and panic lacing her tone.
She had just received Charles' message.
The school was already surrounded by enemies. They had come prepared for war, and even the secret exit of the school lay within the encirclement.
Worse, the enemies had used purification serum to create clouds of toxic smoke, sealing the entire Xavier School in a poisonous ring. Anyone who rushed out and came into contact with it would suffer suppression of their powers, leaving them utterly defenseless!
"Teacher! A lot of soldiers are charging this way—they might have spotted us!"
A student, using his ability to "see" the situation outside the tunnel, shouted in alarm.
At those words, the mutant children immediately grew tense.
"Emma? Do we break through?"
Gambit pulled out a deck of cards, his eyes glowing with a sinister pink light.
Emma's gaze flickered.
Whether students or teachers, none of them had a way to counter the toxic purification mist.
"Charles and the others are on their way. We need Ororo's help. Keep moving forward."
Her voice was soft but firm, soothing the children's fear with her telepathy.
The enemy had already brought war to their doorstep—there was no point in delay.
As long as Ororo arrived, she could blow away the suffocating toxic haze.
Hearing Emma's words, the group resumed their cautious advance.
Meanwhile, soldiers tightening the encirclement adjusted their formation with instruments, tracking the mutants' movements.
Aside from the purification mist, they carried other weapons:
Bullets developed from the serum that could strip mutants of their abilities with a single hit, alongside ordinary rounds.
And that was not all—other weapons derived from the serum awaited deployment.
The moment anyone from Xavier's appeared, they would face relentless fire.
The mist thickened.
Harmless to humans, it was lethal to mutants.
Special vehicles and helicopters sprayed it continuously, shrouding the area in a world of hazy white.
Soldiers moved within it like hounds waiting for the hunt.
From farther away, long-range weapons were already locked on target.
The air was heavy. Silent.
Like the instant before an explosion, everyone's hearts thundered violently.
The children clustered near the tunnel exit. Some wore despair, some wept uncontrollably, while others braced themselves for battle.
To them, the outside world had become one veiled in toxic mist, a world cloaked in hopelessness.
And then—
A cold, commanding voice rang out beyond the fog.
"Children, I know you're afraid, but the one we want is only Professor X! Step outside, and I promise you won't be harmed!"
"Teachers as well—you will not be touched!"
"All you need to do now is come out!"
"I know you can hear me. You have ten seconds. After that, indiscriminate strikes will begin!"
"Trust me—you don't want to see what happens then!"
Inside the tunnel, the teachers' expressions darkened, while the younger children sobbed in fright.
Scott turned to Emma, calm but firm. "Can you control them?"
Emma raised a brow and shook her head.
"The purification mist suppresses psychic powers."
Damn it.
No wonder they dared attack so openly, unafraid of her or Charles' mental control.
Emma cursed silently.
"Bastards, I'll go out and burn them all!"
John the Pyro flared up, ready to charge.
"John!"
Hank McCoy held him back, gripping his shoulder. "Son, I admire your courage. But if you rush out now, there's only one outcome."
"Inhale the poison mist, lose your powers, and then get captured—or killed."
John slammed his fist into the wall. "Then what do we do?"
"Wait."
Hank pushed up his glasses calmly.
The other teachers worked to comfort the children.
Emma embraced two of them, sending out tendrils of telepathic power again and again.
But every time her mind brushed the mist beyond the tunnel, her psychic strength dissolved into nothing.
Outside, the man repeated his threats again and again. The tunnel's atmosphere grew heavier, like a volcano ready to erupt.
"Ten!"
The countdown began. Some children panicked.
"Damn it, I'm going out—better captured than dead!"
A boy of fifteen or sixteen couldn't bear the suffocating dread. He screamed and bolted toward the exit.
His friend grabbed him desperately.
"Let me go! I don't want to die!"
"I'm going too!"
"Breathing the mist is better than dying!"
More and more children rushed toward the exit, terror stripping away reason.
"Don't go out! Losing our powers—no one knows what they'll do to us then. They might not kill us, but what if they turn us into experiments?"
Bobby, the usually shy Iceman, shouted loudly.
John blinked at him in surprise, smirking crookedly. "Who cares about those idiots?"
Bobby's words silenced the tunnel for a moment.
But as the countdown ticked lower, some still surged toward the outside.
And then—
A warm, steady voice filled their minds.
"Children, calm yourselves."
Charles pressed his fingers to his temple, soothing their fear even as he entered the tunnel with Logan and the others.
It was no longer a question of surrender. The war had already begun.
The Battle of Xavier's School would be the first strike.
"Three!"
The countdown continued, deliberately drawn out to magnify the pressure.
"Ororo."
Charles turned to Storm.
Ororo nodded, stepped past the crowd, and closed her eyes.
When they opened again, her pupils were glowing, cloud-white like polished jade. Wind began to swirl around her body.
Boom!
The sky darkened unnaturally, thunder cracking as lightning danced through the rolling clouds. Gusts gathered, swelling into violent gales.
It felt as though the heavens themselves would collapse.
Ororo raised her arms. In seconds, towering funnels of wind spun into being.
Tornadoes, one after another, raged like dragons linking earth and sky. Lightning flashed, wind howled, and the storm devoured everything around.
Driven by her command, the storm tore outward, scattering soldiers and sweeping the toxic haze clean.
At last, the suffocating mist was gone.
The children cheered wildly.
But the soldiers were struck with horror.
Buffeted by winds so fierce they could barely stand, they watched the storm tear through everything like a beast unleashed.
Thank God they'd withdrawn farther back—otherwise, they would have been swallowed whole.
Those too close weren't so lucky.
Especially the one who had been shouting earlier…
Far away, outside the school perimeter, the Secretary of Defense, Leon Cohen, studied the incoming images. His lips twitched, but he quickly schooled his face into cold neutrality.
"See? This is what mutant monsters are. They think a little power gives them the right to rampage."
"Sir, what now?"
A soldier glanced nervously toward the corner of the aircraft, where a girl sat quietly.
She wore black gloves, her body completely concealed. Only her eyes, dull and lifeless, were visible.
"She's our secret weapon. Not her time yet."
Leon Cohen's voice was cool. His gaze flickered as he issued new orders.
"Expand the purification circle farther out. Keep them trapped! Use long-range strikes to force them into the open. Watch closely—once anyone from Xavier's shows themselves, unleash everything on them!"
"And beware of ambush. Keep our men inside the mist at all times."
"Yes, sir!"
The soldier obeyed swiftly.
Cohen's eyes drifted back to the girl in the corner, filled with hatred.
If not for her, his daughter wouldn't have aged into an eighty-year-old at just eighteen.
Mutants… were monsters.
Feeling his stare, the girl lowered her head even further.
She had hurt her friend. She deserved punishment. She needed to repent. She should obey Uncle Cohen. She should follow orders…
These thoughts, drilled into her mind, repeated themselves endlessly.
"Hmph."
Leon Cohen snorted coldly and turned back to the battlefield.
Ororo's storm had torn away the suffocating mist, clearing the skies above.
With a thought, she dismissed the dark clouds, revealing a clear sky once more.
"Scott, clear the field. Jean, provide cover."
Charles pressed his temple again, his psychic force sweeping the area.
Jean answered softly. As Scott charged out, she extended her hand, surrounding him in a telekinetic shield.
Scott adjusted the switch on his ruby visor, surveying the battlefield ravaged by storm.
The ground was stripped raw, the forest torn apart, devastation everywhere.
But a few of the purification trucks had survived, still spewing their poisonous mist.
Scott narrowed his eyes and triggered the visor.
Ruby beams erupted from his gaze.
(End of Chapter)