By the time night fell, Liu A'dou and his wife Ada Wong had already slipped into the hangar. The two of them were stealth experts, managing to sneak into a helicopter right under the noses of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents.
Open the doors. Start the engines. The two of them flew off without a hitch.
Back at headquarters, Agent Maria Hill was fuming. "Agent Ada Wong, do you realize what you're doing?"
Her angry voice came through the radio, demanding an explanation. But Ada didn't care. She simply replied, "Sorry, Acting Director, I trust my husband." Then she shut the radio off.
The agents looked toward Maria, waiting for her next command. She was clearly angry, but she didn't issue a strike order. She'd have to deal with Ada after she came back.
Inside the helicopter, Liu A'dou chuckled. "The truth is, frontline commanders love subordinates who disobey orders but always pull off the mission—or even overdeliver. Ada, once we save the mutants this time, the director is definitely going to promote you."
"Where did you hear this nonsense?" Ada asked. She'd dealt with bosses like that for years and had never seen one who appreciated being disobeyed.
"From movies, obviously. Just look at the protagonists—rebellious, hot-headed, always breaking the rules, but somehow they always take down the bad guys. You'll be one of those badass agents too, just trust me."
Ada snorted. This was the first time someone had made disobeying orders sound so righteous. But she didn't care much for her current position anyway. All she saw in S.H.I.E.L.D. was constant scheming and power struggles. It wasn't half as fun as the stories Liu A'dou told her about superheroes and supervillains.
"Let's go home."
The helicopter couldn't land in the neighborhood, so they found a secluded spot and walked the rest of the way. But when they arrived at the house, they found the lights blazing and the place filled with breathing sounds.
The couple exchanged glances, both puzzled. Ada asked, "Did Elsa bring back a crowd?"
Liu A'dou had seen those people before. "That's Elsa's classmates and teachers. Looks like something happened at school." He rushed to the door.
"Yah!"
The moment Liu A'dou opened the door, two flashes of cold light came straight at him. It was Wolverine, reacting on instinct, launching an attack against what he thought was an intruder.
Luckily, Liu A'dou moved quickly, catching both wrists mid-air. Wolverine's arms were forced up, and the claws swiped harmlessly past Liu A'dou's ear.
Ada had already drawn her pistol and had it aimed right at Wolverine.
"Logan, I get that you don't like me, but did you really have to ambush me in my own home?" Liu A'dou said calmly. He knew they were probably on edge from being hunted, so he wasn't mad.
"You?" Logan finally recognized him and pulled back.
"Of course it's me. I got a message from Professor X, so I rushed back here. I was going to warn you guys that the Secretary of Defense was targeting the school, but I guess I was too late. At least you all made it out alive. That's what matters."
"Not exactly," Logan grunted. "Storm's seriously hurt."
Storm was already slipping toward the edge. Jean had been preparing to take her to the hospital, but now Liu A'dou and Ada had returned.
The moment they saw Storm, they realized the situation was grim.
"She got hit by stray bullets while protecting the kids," Jean quickly explained. "Help us load her into the car. We have to get her to a hospital."
"No need," Liu A'dou said. Then he turned to Ada. "Jie, stop the bleeding."
Ada moved beside Storm, hovering one hand above her. Under everyone's curious gaze, she activated the "Scarlet Needle."
It could kill, but it could also save.
Everyone felt her hand land, though they hadn't seen any movement. What they didn't know was that Ada had already struck several key acupoints in an instant, halting the bleeding.
Then it was Liu A'dou's turn.
He placed his hand on Storm's abdomen and channeled a Ripple through her body. As he sensed the location of the bullet, he used a masterful sleight-of-hand technique to precisely extract the bullet with two agile fingers, without widening the wound.
Everyone around him watched in disbelief. One slap, one pinch—just like that, the bullet was out.
"Wrap it up," Liu A'dou said. He had already left a Ripple inside Storm's body; the wound would heal quickly.
That's it? A fatal injury had just been dealt with. Wolverine and Jean both glanced at their watches, trying to confirm how long that just took. Was it ten seconds, or even less?
Everything had happened in a flash—bleeding stopped, bullet removed. It was so fast, they didn't even know how to react.
"You two... are you mutants?" Jean asked in disbelief.
Liu A'dou shook his head. "No, we're just ordinary people with a particular skill set. I got a message from the professor. He's been captured by William Stryker—probably at Alkali Lake Industrial Complex."
"Impossible. I just came back from there. That place has been abandoned," Jean said.
"It's probably underground beneath the dam," Liu A'dou replied. That wasn't something Professor X told him—it was knowledge he picked up from the movie.
Wolverine frowned. He hadn't checked that area. "Why would they kidnap the professor?"
"Because paired with the Cerebro machine at the school, the professor's ability can find every mutant on Earth—and kill them," Elsa said as she joined the conversation. Everyone at the school was her friend. She had to help, at least to save the professor.
"So this time, Magneto's not the one causing trouble," Jean muttered. She suddenly realized—even with all his issues, Magneto wouldn't have used live rounds on them. "And now that they have Cerebro, we have to get to Alkali Lake fast. Unfortunately, the X-Jet's in enemy hands."
"I do have a helicopter, but it can't make that distance," Liu A'dou said. "In that case, Ada-jie and I will go steal the jet back. My wife's a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, after all."
What a weird couple. Still, when Jean heard that Ada was from S.H.I.E.L.D., her expression shifted. In the end, she made up her mind. "Alright. We're counting on you." This meant she'd owe S.H.I.E.L.D. a favor.
"Stay and calm the students, then get ready to move. We'll rendezvous at the North City airport once we've got the jet."
"Understood."
That settled it. Though they were stealing something, Liu A'dou and Ada didn't bother dressing as Kaitou Kid or Lady Tuxedo Mask. They wore normal clothes and drove to the school.
By the time they arrived, Stryker was already gone, but soldiers had been left behind to guard the equipment and prevent the X-Men from reclaiming it.
The couple scaled the wall and slipped into the estate, slowly moving toward the basketball court. There was an emergency passage there that led straight into the hangar.
"Feel familiar?" Ada whispered.
"This kind of sneaky infiltration is exactly what I'm used to," she said. "But what about you? No spotlights, no applause—feel out of place?"
"Not at all. I like flair, sure, but at the end of the day, I'm still a thief. Basic skills like this—I'd never forget," Liu A'dou replied.
They crept into the hangar and saw two enemies patrolling around the plane. That wasn't the problem. The issue was: once the plane started up, what if the surrounding soldiers attacked and damaged it?
"If you ask me, let's just clear the area. I mean, these guys are the kind of scum who'd kill children without blinking," Liu A'dou said coldly.
Ada smirked as she held up her handgun. "Feels like a zombie cleanup. Alright, let's go clear the field."
They disappeared into the shadows, silently moving in from opposite sides to eliminate the enemy.