Aftermath

The clamor of voices woke Lu Yifang early in the morning. He rubbed his eyes and climbed out of bed.

"You're awake, buddy!" Fireman John turned around and greeted Lu Yifang.

He was playing a video game in front of the TV. The characters on-screen kept shouting, "Hadouken! Shoryuken!" That was right—he was playing King of Fighters, and he had picked Kyo Kusanagi, who used fire.

He seemed pretty good at it. He'd already beaten several characters with ease, and he didn't look the least bit intimidated facing Orochi.

"Where's Bobby?" Lu Yifang asked with a yawn.

"Right over there." John pointed toward the balcony, where a flat-topped boy was carefully watering a potted plant.

"Morning!" Bobby cheerfully greeted Lu Yifang when he noticed he was awake.

"Morning to you too." Lu Yifang climbed out of bed and started washing up in the bathroom.

Ten minutes later, feeling refreshed, Lu Yifang came out and waved to the two of them. "Come on, let's get breakfast."

"No thanks. I've got all I need right here." John pointed to the pile of snacks in front of him.

"Oh, is that so?" Lu Yifang picked up a bag of chips from the floor and started eating them without a care.

"Buddy, you can't do that. That's my last bag of those chips!" John was about to snatch them away when the game on the TV suddenly turned against him.

John hurriedly turned his attention back to the screen. After a frantic flurry of button presses, his Kyo Kusanagi was still KO'd. Meanwhile, Lu Yifang had wolfed down the entire bag of chips.

"Now can we go get breakfast?" Lu Yifang tossed the empty chip bag aside and said calmly.

"Fine." John stood up, looking thoroughly put out, and the three of them headed to the cafeteria.

Three days had passed since the Liberty Island incident. Once Lu Yifang had handed Magneto over to Professor X, his part in the matter was done. What Professor X decided to do with his old friend, and what consequences the Liberty Island incident would have, were no longer Lu Yifang's concern. For now, he was just an ordinary Mutant student waiting for classes to start.

Speaking of classes, it seemed the school's opening date had been delayed again, because the teachers had once more all gone missing at the same time. It looked like there was no chance of having normal classes this week.

What kind of bizarre school was this? If parents asked why their kids were getting bad grades, were the students supposed to say that their teachers never taught and spent all their time saving the world?

That ridiculous excuse would earn them a beating from both parents.

The students wanted a break, sure, but even a week off for National Day every week would get old. Wouldn't five days off and two days of class each week be better?

Lu Yifang wondered if there was a Student Union at the school. If there wasn't, maybe he should start one himself. They needed an organization that could talk back to the teachers and stand up for the students' rights—especially the sacred right to attend class.

After three days of rest, Lu Yifang was bored out of his mind. He was planning things out in his head as he made his way to the cafeteria. Mutant School didn't have many students, with a hundred or so at most. During a school break like this, the cafeteria was naturally even more sparsely populated.

At the very center of the cafeteria, though, stood a huge television, showing news about "Liberty Island."

Lu Yifang watched the news as he ate breakfast and quickly got the gist of the Liberty Island incident. The authorities had officially classified it as an ordinary terrorist attack, intended to destroy the Statue of Liberty as a protest. The strange glowing sphere had been explained as some kind of new optical weapon.

It was worth noting that S.H.I.E.L.D. had gotten involved too. Its spokesperson promised that the culprit would be caught and brought to justice, in the name of democracy and freedom.

As for the word "Mutant," the news mentioned it only once, and then only to clarify that Mutants had nothing to do with the incident.

Lu Yifang couldn't help feeling secretly impressed. Professor X's methods were far more powerful than his own. He'd actually managed to bury the whole affair.

But if you really thought about it, Professor X was one of the most powerful telepaths in the world. Living in a supposedly democratic and free country, that was downright terrifying. If he wanted to support a politician, he could use his powers to dig up all his opponent's dirty secrets. And which politician had completely clean hands?

He could even use his Mental power to sway public opinion, or make someone stand up in front of a crowd and shout, "Hail Hydra!"

Of course, Professor X had principles. He would never do either of those last two things. They went against his lifelong commitment to peace, and they would cross the line for other powers operating in the shadows.

But that didn't mean Professor X had done nothing. Without a doubt, he was a good man, but he was also an excellent leader. So don't expect him to be like Captain America, that righteous man of God.

And this time, Professor X had clearly drawn on his connections in the government, successfully shifting the blame from the Mutants to the terrorists and quelling the uproar.

Yes, the uproar could be considered quelled. Of course, angry citizens still held protests, but did anyone really expect the incident to grow into another "9/11"?

The Statue of Liberty was one of the faces of the United States, but hardly anyone had died in this incident. Besides, this was the Marvel Universe. There were more than a dozen evil forces in this world that dreamed of blowing up the White House and had the power to do it.

New Yorkers were used to the occasional lunatic blowing up a building or robbing a bank. With the nerves they'd built up over the years, probably only aliens blowing up New York could stop them from calmly sipping their afternoon tea.

Since the matter could now be considered over, Lu Yifang lost interest and returned to his breakfast. Just then, John took out his phone, opened a video, and leaned toward Lu Yifang with a mysterious look.

"What are you going to show me?" Lu Yifang asked curiously.

"The truth about the Liberty Island incident, of course!" John said excitedly.

While he was speaking, the video opened. The Statue of Liberty appeared first. At its crown, two figures could vaguely be seen facing off. Lu Yifang immediately realized that the video showed his battle with Magneto.

Fortunately, the image was very blurry. It had been night, after all, and Storm had created a fog. Honestly, Lu Yifang had to admire the person who'd recorded it for managing to capture the figures at all.

Sure enough, the comments below the video were full of negative reviews. Everyone mocked its picture quality, saying it was worse than porn, and most people questioned whether the video was even real.

"Those stupid Muggles actually believe this video is real. What a joke! The guy controlling metal in the fight is obviously the famous Magneto." John's eyes lit up as he mentioned Magneto. He seemed to admire him a great deal.

"More than Magneto, I'm curious about who could fight him without falling behind," Bobby said, leaning in.

"How would I know? Think it could be the Professor?" John turned to ask him.

"Do you really think the Professor could fight like that from a wheelchair?" Bobby gave John a look, then calmly analyzed the video.

"Besides, even though the video is blurry, it's obvious the figure is a young man. At the very oldest, he can't be over forty."

"A young man who can fight Magneto to a standstill? Holy crap, I've made up my mind." John slapped the table and jumped to his feet, thrilled.

"I'm going to find him and make him my boss."

"Cough, cough!" Lu Yifang nearly spat out the milk he'd been drinking.

"Yifang, you don't have to make such a big show of laughing at me," John said, looking annoyed.

"It's fine, it's fine. Go on." Lu Yifang waved a hand, lowered his head, and continued eating his bread.

Bobby glanced at Lu Yifang, puzzled. He remembered that Lu Yifang had gone out to meet Professor X that night and hadn't come back until very late. Could it be...?

At the thought, Bobby quickly shook his head. No way. Impossible. There was no chance his roommate was that awesome!