"If his heart was pierced, how the hell is he showing up at school?" Lucien "Black King" growled, narrowing his eyes. "And from what I've observed, he's not even scratched. Your statement holds zero weight."
"Maybe… I was mistaken," Emma Frost muttered.
"White Queen, your telepathy rarely fails. Don't sell yourself short."
Emma bristled but stayed silent.
"Next time I meet Ryuuto," Lucien continued, grinding his teeth, "I'll figure out exactly what's going on."
Emma rolled her eyes. "It's a minor issue. I get close, mess with his consciousness, and the Red Devil can handle a teleport-assassination. Easy."
Lucien laughed darkly. "Minor? Let's stir up more mutant conflicts first. I've got a plan!"
Meanwhile, Ryuuto had returned to the school, holding Arlo in his arms. He spotted Charles and the others aboard the spaceship, still oblivious to his presence.
"Set me down. I can handle it from here," Ryuuto said, gently placing Arlo on her feet.
Susan—eyes glowing crimson—ran over and leapt into his arms. "I didn't think you could come back."
Ryuuto chuckled, holding her tightly. "What kind of foolish talk is that? I'm invincible. Death simply doesn't stick to me."
Susan's worried expression softened, her gaze lingering on him. For a moment, Ryuuto almost leaned in—but they pulled apart before anything else happened.
He approached Charles to debrief. After a moment of silence, Charles admitted, "I didn't expect they'd cause you so much trouble. Luckily, Emma didn't control your mind… or it would've been a disaster. What are you planning now, Ryuuto?"
Ryuuto thought for a beat. "I need to track them down. That teleporting bastard? He's first on my list."
"That won't be easy."
"Doesn't matter. I can handle it myself."
Charles couldn't help but smile at his confidence.
Ryuuto's gaze then shifted to Natasha Romanoff. "Natasha, come to my room later."
"What?" she blinked, caught off guard.
"Any questions?" he asked casually.
"Uh… no, none," Natasha stammered, her mind racing. Susan's presence had made her comfortable sharing Ryuuto's attention, but now… this sudden invitation was jarring.
Ten minutes later, Natasha cautiously entered his room. Susan wasn't there. "Where's she?"
Ryuuto, busy studying a detonator device, glanced up. "Why do you ask?"
"She should be here," Natasha said.
"She's taking a bath. Said she'd come back later," he replied, his tone deliberately ambiguous. Natasha's face turned red; she feared he might be testing the 'one man, two women' theory. Too fast, too soon. Not her style.
Ryuuto smirked. "You feeling feverish? Blushing like a monkey fart."
"I just… can't accept it," Natasha muttered, flustered.
"What?"
"Your… uh… intentions."
He picked up the detonator, holding it between them. "Natasha, I wanted you here to help me study this device. I need to understand how it detects X-gene abnormalities in mutants. If we can disrupt it, we can remove the threat entirely."
Natasha exhaled, muttering to herself, "Ah… maybe I misunderstood…"
Ryuuto tilted his head. "What?"
"Nothing… forget it."
She approached and took the detonator, observing it closely.
"Wait here. I'll grab some equipment," Natasha said, leaving briefly.
Five minutes later, she returned, wearing glasses with trans-vision scanning capabilities. Instantly, the device's inner structure revealed itself—but she nearly choked, realizing her glasses also let her see Ryuuto's body through clothes. Flustered, she snapped her head up, embarrassed.
Sitting on the edge of his bed, she resumed examining the detonator. "It's like a collar, with a monitoring chip near the neck. Originally for monitoring white blood cells, but tampered to detect X-gene changes. Any mutant using their ability will trigger detonation automatically."
"Can it be disabled?" Ryuuto asked.
"The best method is overloading it with electricity," Natasha explained. "Burns the chip instantly. Then, no mutant ability will set it off."
"But if we shock someone wearing it, won't we fry them too?" Ryuuto pressed.
Natasha fell silent, pondering.
Before they could continue, Katie Dee burst through the wall.
Ryuuto groaned. "Katie! Please, no wall-walking without warning. You'll give me a heart attack one day."
"I'm here to deliver this," she said, handing over a small gift box.
Ryuuto accepted it with a sigh. "Thanks… now, let's see what trouble this brings."
...
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