Chapter 30: The Chaos That Followed
The rampaging Jean finally calmed down. To keep her from crashing onto the ground, Uchiha Ming caught her as he released Susanoo. And don't ask why it was a princess carry—well, a young lady falling flat on the ground wouldn't look good anyway.
It was clear in that moment who cared about Jean Grey the most—Cyclops, Scott, rushed over to check on his girlfriend, not even bothering to wipe the blood off his own face. What mattered was whether Jean was hurt.
Just as Ming was about to hand Jean over, she slowly woke up in his arms. For some reason, Ming thought he saw a flash of red in her eyes when she opened them, followed by a blush across her face. Tears welled up, making her look… almost enchanting.
Of course, Ming figured it was probably just his imagination—after all, her boyfriend was standing right there.
"You can put me down now… I think I'm fine." Jean's voice was so faint that, if not for his sharp ninja senses, Ming might not have heard it at all.
He quickly set her down—her boyfriend was right there, and he had already absorbed the Phoenix Force from her. The least he could do was be polite.
"Do you need me to check you over? Make sure you didn't suffer any hidden injuries?" Ming asked kindly. Deep down, he was worried that the system might have done something to her. Of course, he planned to have Mikoto handle it—he didn't know any medical ninjutsu, so he'd be useless.
"No way!" Scott immediately rejected the idea. What a joke—why would he let another man examine his girlfriend?
But to his shock, Jean gave a soft little "mm" in response. When Scott turned, he noticed something strange in her expression.
"Mikoto, could you take a look at her?" Ming said. For some reason, Jean seemed disappointed by that, while Scott felt a little ashamed.
"I guess I was being too petty… after all, he really did step in to help." Once Scott realized it was Mikoto doing the check-up, he relaxed—so that's what Ming had meant.
Scott, however, didn't notice that Jean—protected behind him—had her eyes fixed on Ming's figure. Twice now, the Phoenix Force had gone out of control, and twice Ming had been the one to resolve it.
Ming had undeniably caught her attention. What was stranger was that Jean could feel the power inside her react—it leapt with joy whenever she was near him.
It was as if… her very body had awakened to some new awareness, one that found comfort and peace in his presence.
Thanks to Ming and his clan's intervention—and to his swift elimination of the enemy—Xavier's School was not devastated. With Mikoto's healing, even the critically wounded were saved. It could be called a fortunate outcome, with no innocent lives lost.
But Ming couldn't make sense of the aliens' sudden, half-hearted attack. Who was that white-haired woman? How had these aliens infiltrated Earth? Was it part of some larger conspiracy? He had no answers.
Not that it mattered too much—for New York, aliens were practically regular visitors.
"Head of the Uchiha, we owe you once again. The school is in chaos right now, so forgive me for not properly hosting you. Once we've settled things, I'll pay a visit," Charles said.
Ming and the others left under Charles' gaze. Only Jean stood staring at Ming's departing figure, unwilling to look away.
This disaster had been averted, but the real storm was only beginning.
In New York, such a massive disturbance could hardly go unnoticed. And since it happened at Xavier's, the mutant stronghold, it drew the full attention of the federal government.
Fortunately, the X-Men had recently saved American astronauts, and Ming had stopped Jean's rampage before it grew out of control. There was no widespread panic, so the fallout wasn't disastrous.
The CIA took charge of handling the matter. Since no civilians had been harmed, it wasn't too hard to smooth over. Still, Jean's reckless display earned harsh condemnation, and much of the goodwill the X-Men had built up was now depleted.
Charles began to realize the truth—that all his efforts meant little in the eyes of the federal elite. Blind devotion and sacrifice were meaningless.
The American government never truly saw mutants as their own kind. Raven had been right all along about their greed. Charles was only just beginning to understand.
It wasn't that Charles lacked intelligence, but he had lived in privilege since childhood and never fully separated himself from "ordinary humans." His perspective was always through the lens of class, not species.
Raven, however, was different. Her unusual appearance had made people see her as a devil since childhood, and her harsh, wandering life had taught her the darker truths of human nature.
She knew full well—ordinary people didn't see mutants as people. Politicians and capitalists didn't even treat ordinary humans as people, much less mutants.
Mutants were only ever met with envy, hatred, jealousy, exclusion, and indifference. Even if this disaster had been caused by the Phoenix Force and alien invaders, who would believe that? People would just say—mutants caused trouble again.
In a dark, secret building, a single glowing eye pierced the shadows.
"How's the situation handled, Coulson?"
"Director, everything's been taken care of. Luckily, Xavier's is in a remote area, so there weren't many witnesses. The satellite that passed over at the time was one of ours, so we were able to keep it contained."
Coulson, as always, proved himself the reliable right hand of Nick Fury.
"What did Charles say? Is he willing to join us?" Fury asked. He always felt short on strong operatives—every problem ended up on Coulson's plate, and the man's hairline was suffering for it.
"Sorry to disappoint you, sir. Charles basically refused. He said mutants aren't suited to become agents yet. He also said the X-Men plan to lie low for a while."
"The mutant crisis is only just beginning. Well, if they don't understand now, they'll see it later. We all share the same land—thinking you can stay separate is an illusion. Still, keep a close eye on Xavier's. Their reputation is sinking fast, and I don't want problems if we try to recruit a few mutants later."
"But the real key is that mysterious force that helped the X-Men. The fact that such a group exists right under our noses without us knowing is… interesting. If not for this unusual incident, we might never have discovered them."
"Coulson, take a team to visit them. Be polite—we may need allies in the future." Fury pointed to a spot on the map near Xavier's.
"This place? The satellites can't scan it?" Coulson frowned.
"Exactly. Be careful. Anyone who can help Xavier's like that isn't ordinary. Don't provoke them."
"Understood." Coulson accepted the order and set out with a team.
Ming hadn't expected to be discovered so soon. While he was enjoying Mikoto's cooking, Inaho came to report.
"A man claiming to be FBI is here. Name's Coulson. Suit and tie. There's a squad waiting outside in ambush, but they didn't come in with him. Clan Head, do you want to meet him?"
"Let him in. I didn't expect S.H.I.E.L.D. to find us so quickly… but I suppose it was inevitable." Ming sighed. Living in New York, sooner or later, contact with S.H.I.E.L.D. was unavoidable.