Ryuuto's pulse was a drumbeat—fast, controlled, hungry.
"Everything sped up so quickly," Susan confessed, voice tight. "I've always tried to protect humans. Now… I feel like I'm supposed to kill them."
"You're wrong," Ryuuto said, calm but fierce. "We're enemies of the military and the government, not all mankind. Most ordinary people just want peace. We want peace too. But these warmongers want to erase us to prove a point. If they succeed, the politicians will stand on podiums and order the slaughter. This war didn't start with us—it started with them."
Susan blinked, slow understanding settling into her eyes. Ryuuto softened. "If you can't stand the thought of killing, then don't go to the frontline. We don't need martyrdom; we need strategy."
"Relax. I'm fine," she said, steel returning to her tone.
Steel, marching ahead, called back with a grin, "We've got two giant bodyguards—Susan will be alright!"
Ryuuto snorted. "She doesn't need guarding. If Susan decides, she can handle an entire armored column by herself."
"Great—then we're just window dressing!" Steel laughed, then fell into step beside Scott.
"For Axville Academy!" Ryuuto barked. The group answered with an echoing cry and sped up.
Ryuuto toggled his communicator. "Report in."
One by one they confirmed—voice, signal, presence. He checked names, validated channels. No glitches.
He and Ororo launched skyward, scanning the horizon.
"Earth Style — Light and Heavy Rock Technique!" Ryuuto leapt; Ororo caught the wind and rode it like a ribbon. They flew toward the predicted approach vector. According to Professor Xavier's read, the bombers and humanoid suits were likely to come from behind. They needed eyes in the sky.
He pressed his comm. "Susan—if you can't disengage, withdraw immediately. We don't want you trapped."
"I know the plan," she answered. Today, Susan's choice mattered. If she refused orders and slaughtered indiscriminately, Ryuuto would have to act. Beauty and conviction didn't excuse insubordination.
Below them, the armored column rolled: ten tanks leading, infantry in body armor behind them—SMGs, sniper rifles, even rocket launchers. Infrared sensors glinted. The armored forces were professional and wired for destruction.
Susan flicked her stealth off and walked forward. She had thought invisibility would hide her—she forgot their tele-thermal gear. Bullets stitched the air. She slammed a force field in front of her and let the rounds bloom harmlessly across its surface, then lifted her cloak and spoke.
"You're here to destroy Axville Academy. I won't allow it. If you insist, I'll stop you."
A captain barked back, voice tight with propaganda: "You're Invisible Woman of the Fantastic Four—stand down. You cannot betray humanity!"
"Betray humanity?" Susan's laugh was brittle. "You're government lapdogs. You don't speak for everyone. You're sending men to burn a school. If you take one step closer—don't blame me."
The armored commander snapped orders. Everyone aimed at Susan. They had a plan: neutralize the most dangerous mutant first. Ten cannons converged.
Shells came screaming.
Susan's force field took the hits. The explosions shook her, but she held—this was her role: shield, attract attention, buy time for Steel and Scott to do their jobs. The concussive hits left her pale, but her resolve hardened.
Then a laser lanced through the chaos from the right side—silver light eating through armor. Two tanks evaporated, sliced down their midlines. Scott's optic blast and Steel's raw brawn collided in a ballet of violence: Scott scorched; Steel barreled. Steel slammed into a tank, sending it tumbling into another, creating a chain reaction. The armored ranks fractured, then chaos bloomed.
Scott retreated to safety; he wasn't built for close-quarters carnage. Steel charged like a bull, fearless under gunfire, ripping through infantry and smashing turrets with reckless ease. Susan rounded her force field beneath her and then rose—face cold as winter.
"This is what you forced me to be!" she said through gritted teeth.
Ryuuto hovered above, surveying the ebb and flow. The plan was unfolding—tanks disrupted, infantry disoriented, the bombers still expected but not yet overhead. This was the first impact; the real test was coordination.
Inside the school, other teams were bracing. Natasha and Jean prepared surgical responses. Bobby kept emergency teams ready for civilians. Katie Dee hovered on phasing alert in case breach points opened.
Ryuuto's mind cut into the present with a razor focus. Keep Susan contained. Let Steel break the lines. Scott draw and strike. Ororo and I handle air and suit threats when they arrive.
He felt the familiar heat of combat rising—not rage, but the precise hunger of someone who'd trained to win. Outside, engines churned; the sky had not yet darkened with bombers, but the first move had already been made.
Ryuuto folded his fingers around the hilt at his back and smiled thinly.
"Come on then," he whispered to the approaching thunder. "Show me what you've got."
....
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