Chapter 246: Tensions Escalate
"Mutant, cease all movement. You are suspected of assassinating the President and committing a first-degree felony. I now order you to surrender immediately. If you attempt to use your abilities again, we will fire without further verbal warning."
A stern warning shout came from outside the church.
There was no doubt that this warning was extremely serious.
So serious that there would only be one chance.
"Damn it. Those guys really are planning to start a war."
Even Logan understood the meaning behind that warning.
Those people did not care at all whether Nightcrawler would flee. If Nightcrawler escaped the scene, they would immediately expand the panic around mutants.
Then they would completely define this assassination attempt for what they wanted it to be.
And from there, they would begin a war against mutants.
"Professor." Scott's brow furrowed. The voice outside had stopped, but he could feel the smell of gunpowder growing heavier, so he quickly called to the professor through his earpiece.
"It seems some things are unavoidable, Scott. Bring the child out," Professor X's gentle, helpless voice resonated in his mind. "If possible, try your best to avoid conflict."
Scott knew the Professor had made his choice.
So he nodded to the others, then looked at Nightcrawler, who stood weakly on the ground.
"Hey, what's your name?"
"Kurt Wagner," Nightcrawler said softly.
"Alright, Kurt. Let's face this together. Trust us. We'll protect you."
Scott walked up to Nightcrawler and held out his hand.
Nightcrawler, Kurt, stared at the hand before him. Then he raised his head and looked at Scott's cold yet gentle face. In the end, he placed his hand in Scott's and used Scott's pull to stand up.
"Let's go." Scott patted Kurt on the shoulder and led the way out.
The other X-Men followed close behind. But none of them—not even Jean Grey herself—noticed the faint blood-red tint that had appeared in her eyes.
Everyone soon arrived outside the church.
There, they found large numbers of fully armed soldiers, Humvees mounted with heavy weapons, tanks, Apache attack helicopters circling overhead, and F-22 fighter jets patrolling the sky.
Beyond the military cordon, a crowd of reporters had already gathered.
News helicopters hovered overhead, their cameras trained on the front of the church.
They were broadcasting the standoff between the military and the mutants live.
"The X-Men?"
At the scene, FBI Director John, the highest-ranking official in command, spotted Scott and the others standing beside Nightcrawler. After a brief pause, he frowned.
After quietly giving a few instructions to the Army major general and the USSS director beside him, he pushed through the crowd and stepped to the front.
He was wearing a tactical vest, with a pistol holstered at his thigh.
His expression was stern.
"I am FBI Director John, the highest-ranking official on site."
He introduced himself in a cold, authoritative voice before sweeping his sharp gaze over the trembling Nightcrawler and finally settling it on Cyclops Scott.
"X-Men, you are standing beside a suspect accused of a first-degree felony. Does that mean he was acting under your orders?"
He had to raise his voice, or it would have been drowned out by the noise around them, especially the roar of the armed helicopters overhead.
Around them, the National Guard soldiers raised their weapons, a dense wall of gun barrels aimed at the X-Men.
The atmosphere was tense.
"Director John, he was not acting under our orders. He was controlled by someone and committed those crimes while unable to control himself. We hope you will treat this fairly."
Scott's voice rang out across the scene, amplified by Phoenix Jean Grey's telepathic powers. His tone was sincere.
But John remained unmoved.
"Whether he was under someone's control is something we'll determine after questioning," he replied firmly.
His gaze swept over every member of the X-Men.
"And you are also suspected of giving instructions. Now, I order you to stop resisting immediately and accept our interrogation
John's hard-line stance made the already tense atmosphere even heavier. Every soldier aimed their weapons at the X-Men, fingers resting on the triggers, ready to fire at any moment.
Logan's expression darkened as sharp steel claws slowly slid out from the backs of his hands.
Scott looked straight at Director John, his expression grim.
The other side wanted them to give up all resistance and go with them for questioning. There was no way Scott could accept that.
At his core, Scott's views were somewhat different from Professor X's.
He was a hard-liner. He did not like bowing his head to humans, or rather, he did not want the safety of mutants to be placed in the hands of these people.
Over the years, Scott had seen far too much of humanity's darker side.
He didn't trust humans. To put it more bluntly, he didn't trust any government agency.
In his eyes, they had no credibility whatsoever.
He had no doubt that if he and his companions gave up resistance and allowed themselves to be taken away, they would be treated badly.
Scott was just about to refuse.
Then Professor X's voice sounded in his mind.
"Scott, don't be impulsive."
Scott froze.
At that moment, every soldier at the scene suddenly realized they could no longer move. Their minds remained clear, but their bodies refused to obey.
Their faces twisted in shock and panic, including FBI Director John.
An invisible wave of telepathic power swept across the area. Outside the church, Professor X slowly rolled forward in his wheelchair, his aged face calm and unreadable as he stopped before the X-Men.
"Professor?"
"Professor, why are you…"
The X-Men spoke up in surprise, completely caught off guard by his arrival, as Professor X hadn't been with them when they had initially gone looking for Kurt.
The professor raised a hand, signaling them to stop. Then he turned to face John directly.
He first looked up at the news helicopters overhead before turning his gaze back to John.
"I apologize, Mr. John. For the sake of peace, I had no choice but to do this. But please rest assured—I have not controlled you. I have only cut off the link between your consciousness and your bodies. It will not harm you."
"Professor X."
Facing Professor X, one of the strongest mutants in the world, John showed no fear. Instead, his face remained cold, even though he could no longer move.
He stared straight at Professor X. "If you think this will make us back down, then you are wrong."
"He has committed an unforgivable crime. You people assassinated the President. This is no longer an ordinary case. We have reason to suspect that you mutants intend to start a war."
"I can tell you this: you have only one path. Come with us and accept interrogation."
"If you refuse this request, the government will immediately activate the highest-level superhuman threat response plan."
This was not a threat.
It was an order that had already been given to him from behind the scenes.
This war was by no means a drill.
...
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