Ch 74: X-Men - A Trip In Vain

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Erik nodded slightly in acknowledgment of Scott's apology, though his expression remained impassive. "Apology accepted," he said simply.

Silence fell over the group for a few moments before Charles spoke again. "I understand your decision to have Shilpa trained by Emma for now," he said to Erik. "I apologize for Scott's behavior and my blunder in the beginning. However, I would ask that you keep an open mind about allowing her to attend my school in the future. Our doors are always open."

"I'll consider it if the time comes," Erik replied neutrally. He had no intention of sending Shilpa to Xavier's school, but saw no need to argue the point currently.

"Was there anything else you needed from me regarding the events with Mastermind?" Erik asked, wanting to steer the conversation back on track.

Charles shook his head. "No, I believe you've provided the key details we required. Thank you for your cooperation."

With that, the X-Men took their leave. The meeting wasn't even half an hour long, but Charles felt like he was there for hours.

As they left, Erik eyed Jean Grey... 'An Omega Class mutant. Judging by the events surrounding X-Men, I don't think she has the Pheonix force inside her right now.'

'Once she goes crazy. I'll think of a way to absorb her for a system upgrade... at full power, she'll be a better sacrifice.'

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The X-Men returned to Charles's friend's house, i.e., Hisako's parent's house. They weren't really comfortable there either. Emma Frost's presence wasn't really appreciated by the group, especially by Scott.

When they arrived today in the morning, they had heard her side of the story but she wasn't just trustworthy enough.

Emma had also refused to let Charles read her mind, which only deepened their suspicion.

And then just like with Erik, Charles had tried to convince Hisako's parents to let Hisako join his school but Hisako's parents told him that the main reason they didn't want Hisako to join Charles's school was because she'd have to stay too far from home.

That's why they hired a trustworthy mutant tutor from their contact's recommendation instead of approaching him, his friend, in the first place.

And they, in fact, knew about Emma's past but chose to trust her. Also, Hisako has become attached to Emma, so, she wasn't willing to change her teacher.

Emma's victorious smirk looked extremely vicious to Scott Summers. But he didn't say anything since Emma had somehow gained the trust of Hisako and her parents.

But the X-Men weren't really convinced by her behavior. They simply couldn't believe that the White Queen of the Inner Circle had redeemed herself.

Emma, for her part, didn't see the need to overly convince them. After all, her memories were her own not something for Charles to see and judge.

She had made an exception with Erik, as she didn't have a choice at that time, but she had already forgiven him since he saved her and took care of Mastermind. But she saw no reason to extend the same exception to the X-Men.

Later in the evening, after they returned from meeting Erik and Wanda, the X-Men discussed their ideas and action plan for the case regarding Mastermind.

Scott was in a foul mood the entire time. He wasn't talking much, not giving suggestions, not participating much. He wasn't even talking to Jean whom he had a crush on.

As the team dispersed for their own investigations, Charles stopped Jean. "Jean, I wish you could talk to Scott about what happened today."

"Come on, Professor. Scott isn't a child and it's not like today's matter was something traumatizing either. He just got thrashed a bit by an angry boyfriend." Jean chuckled.

Charles shook his head, "His attitude will affect our cohesion if left unattended. I urge you to talk to him. He will listen to you, Jean, just be patient with him." Charles urged again.

Jean wasn't the type of person who could deny and disrespect Charles who was practically like her father all this time, so she just nodded and told him that she'd take care of it if he was worried.

Jean walked outside the house, she saw Ororo flying off somewhere and found Scott taking out his motorcycle from Blackbird, their advanced aircraft.

"Hey, Scott," she said softly, "How's your head? The fall didn't hurt too much did it?"

Scott didn't turn to look at her, his jaw clenched. "It'll be fine," he muttered.

Jean took a deep breath. "Look, I know you're upset about what happened with Eirikyr. But you need to understand that your behavior today was not worthy of the heroes we're praised as. Even if insulting his girlfriend was not your intention, your choice of words was bad. And then calling him the 'f' word and lashing out to his words... was childish and uncalled for."

Scott's eyes narrowed behind his visor, "You're taking their side? You were supposed to stand up for me. Fight them for what he did to me!"

His words made Jean uncomfortable. But she remembered Professor's words to be patient with him... So, sighing Jean replied softly, "I'm not taking sides, Scott, you're my friend. I care for you."

Her words made Scott's heart race.

Putting a palm on his shoulder, Jean continued, "I'm trying to make you see that your actions have consequences. You're an X-Man, people look up to us and we have to uphold their expectations of us, that's how we improve the image of mutants, isn't that the goal?"

Scott nodded, "I see..." He took Jean's hand from his shoulder and rested his cheek on her palm.

'No one else came to check up on me except her... This confirms it.' Scott smiled as he thought, 'She likes me too.'

"Thank you, Jean. Your words mean a lot to me." He said.

Jean removed her hand, a forced smile on her face, "Yes, it's okay as long as you understand."

As Jean turned to leave, Scott grabbed her hand, "What is it now, Scott?" Jean asked.

"I-uh..." Scott wanted to say something to her but he let her, it didn't seem like the right moment right now... So, he let her go, "It's nothing. I'll say it later when the moment is right."

Jean dreaded the worst and walked away a bit faster than usual.

"She's embarrassed." Scott chuckled.

The X-Men stayed for two more days for their investigation in Japan. However, due to a lack of evidence of any kind, they had to return without any solid findings.

They did try to find at least Emma's involvement in this case but without any leads, they were only met with a wall. Well, what kind of evidence could they find when the whole facility had disappeared?

The captured mutants' alibi only supported Emma's and Erik's stories...

Regretfully, Charles couldn't find any hints of Yui Sasaki.

As such, without any significant return from their investigations in Japan, they had to return. They had other businesses to care of too.

All in all their investigation and trip to Japan were in vain and they earned nothing but humiliation from both Emma and Erik.

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As you can guess after reading, Scott and Jean aren't dating yet. Scott had joined X-Men two years ago, when the events of Apocalypse happened. FYI, in this novel, X-Men apocalypse and New York invasion happened on the same day. 

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