A SAGE ADRIFT -#18

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A SAGE ADRIFT

#18

“Still doubting my methods, Naruto?” The voice of Emma sounded in his ear, this time through an earphone rather than through the use of her telepathic powers. Good, he had wanted her expressly last time that he did not appreciate that.

“Less and less, every day,” he muttered but he was pretty sure she heard him loud and clear. The technology of this world was much more advanced than the one developed back in the Elemental Nations. He couldn’t imagine global instantaneous communication and it not being used to coordinate war crimes back home. 

Here? It was used to watch cat videos of all things. Apparently, chakra did something to people because while he did see these people go to war and it was not pretty, the overwhelming majority of them did not wish to go to war, unlike the shinobis back home.

“Alright boys, it's go time,” His neck snapped up as he heard the call sign of the one known as Alex. He had gotten to know Alex ever since he was roped into this thing by Emma Frost. That woman truly was a manipulator through and through, especially since all the missions he had been a part of, for the past month and a half, had just been rescue missions. 

Missions to rescue mutants from trafficking rings. Missions to rescue mutants from private research facilities. Missions to rescue mutants from Churches. Missions to rescue mutants from government research and military facilities.

So on and so forth the list went. It was honestly disheartening to see so many people just willing to disregard the rights of mutants who were barely adults for some goal that was not even theirs. More than once, he had been tempted to just throw caution to the wind and just level a base or two to sate his rage but then he was reminded of the weakness of his body and just how limited he was in terms of power. He could, in theory, still use dimensional energy but even that made him feel a dull throb of pain.

Still, it was not as if he was completely helpless. His body, having gone through multiple wars, was strong enough to shrug off most things that these people could throw at it. So, he was sent on the missions with low enough risk as a secondary backup. Just in case, the backup of the missions needed backup.

He sighed and looked through the scope that was provided to him. It was a very high-powered gun of some sort that shot bullets that could go through concrete walls with ease. He was also given scopes that could see through a wall, making him a pretty good marksman should things go south.

Through the scope, he could see Emma’s team dividing itself into two groups. One of them headed straight into the basement, where there was a group of people huddled together. Most likely the mutants that they were here to rescue. And the second group headed straight towards the command center where he could see most of the forces of the base being concentrated.

The scope also came with an energy meter of sorts that could give him a basic idea of how powerful a mutant was, judging by the amount of energy they had, be it psionic, dimensional, or even plain CHI. 

“Alex, they have a low B-ranked mutant amongst them in the command center. Along with a couple of high C-ranked ones, the commander might be able to slip away in the middle of your fight.” He reported to Alex who paused for a few moments before saying something to his team that caused the team to diverge once again with Alex taking the lead and going through the front door and the rest of the team going through the ducts.

Honestly, pretty standard strategy from Alex. Concentrate fire from enemies on the tank while the rest of the team drops in on the main target, the commander or the owner of this facility.

“What are you doing? You will be sitting ducks there. The mutants might not breach your shields but you won’t be able to do anything either and the rest of the team needs an escape route.”

“Don’t worry. We have our newest recruit for that,”

Naruto blinked as he heard that. He hadn’t heard of any new recruit. Must be Emma’s new student or something.

The next moment, he heard the sound of metal groaning before the blast doors that guarded the command center gave way and dropped themselves on the other side of Alex, likely pasting a couple of the guards standing close.

“Hallelujah!” Alex shouted before pandemonium occurred in the command center. He could see Alex’s barrier being peppered with hundreds of bullets every second but it refused to budge even a tiny bit just because of the guns but it was pushed back once the low B-class mutant moved and slammed right into the barrier around Alex.

“Whoa, I don’t know what you saw Naruto but this is not a mutant.” Alex’s voice took a tone of seriousness when he said that.

“What do you mean?” He tried asking Alex but all he heard was a groan as the rest of the high C-class mutants had also moved but bizarrely, instead of them reaching the barrier, they seemed to crash into the low B-class mutant.

“Um, Naruto?” Alex’s gulp could be heard across the comms channels.

“Yes?” 

“Can you switch to the camera feed? I want you to report this to Emma just in case I don’t make it.”

He doesn't make it? What was he talking about?

Swiftly disengaging himself from the gun, he moved back towards his backpack and took out a tablet. Authorizing himself, he switched to the camera feed and nearly dropped the tablet in utter shock.

“Shit,” he mumbled.

“Shit indeed,” Alex muttered back.

On the screen was a grotesque monster, the likes of which he had never seen before. The problem was not grotesque monsters. The problem was the energy reading he was getting from the sensors on Alex’s body.

Low A-class energy levels.

The camera feed glitched before coming back but this time, the monster was significantly further away than before and this time, the grunt sounded painful from Alex.

“Just a little while more, Alex, and the rest should be done by then,” Emma said to Alex.

He jumped across the clearing and saw through the scope of the sniper that they had already taken in 2 of the commanders and were only left with one of them. The one who was a mutant capable of manipulating clothing. He must have somehow turned himself into a soldier but even then, his energy levels should have been highlighted.

With a loud thundering noise, a corner of the base’s concrete walls shook open and a shimmering blue ball flew out of it. He instinctively jumped to help only to pause as Emma said, “Mission successful. Get everybody out of there, Blink.”

He blinked, ironically, only to see the ball of light that was Alex disappearing. The sound of displaced air had him turning around immediately and assuming a combat stance but he relaxed once he saw that it was just Alex, who promptly emptied the contents of his stomach on the grass once his barrier fully dispelled itself.

“Urgh!” 

The sound of the jet coming out of stealth mode and becoming visible had him rushing forward to pick up Alex after packing up all of the equipment.

Putting a hand on the comms, “Emma! What about the rest of them?”

“They are already in the jet. Now, time for some payback.” He heard Emma say before the monster behind him let out a pained roar.

He looked behind, his enhanced eyesight allowing him to see the monster hobbling on one leg before he just crashed on the ground, his right leg a mere stump now that leaked yellowish blood like a faucet.

“Emma? Was that you?” He asked the question into the comms channel once they were safe and secure in the jet.

“No, it was our newest recruit, Blink. She is in the aiming center below the jet. She’s a little shy so you all will have to wait to meet the star of the show today.”

The entire crew cheered as they secured the three prisoners and went about their way, happy that they had survived yet another mission in the long line of dangerous ones that Emma had them do.

Meanwhile, Naruto went to the back of the plane where the three commanders were kept secured and sedated, just in case. Sitting in the chair in front of them, he called out, “Emma?”

“You noticed it as well, Naruto?”

“Yes, they are getting stronger way faster than you expected them to be. It was an A-class mutant today, Emma. Those are not far from the likes of Alex himself even in his empowered form.”

“Yes, I am painfully aware of that Naruto but what would you have me do? Call on those two idiots? One of them would just raze the entire building, uncaring of the benefits that could come from gathering intel and the second one would just let every single scum in there walk free. We don’t have many options here, Naruto.”

Naruto didn’t like the way Emma worded her sentence there. It made it seem as if it was his responsibility to make sure these kids because that’s who they were, made it back home in one piece because he was the only S-class mutant they had access to.

According to her, his power levels would soar to never-before-seen levels once he started actually fighting. Charles Xavier and Magneto are old, way past their physical prime but their powers have only since developed.

They were only A-class back in their day but now? With all the experience they had with their powers?

They were what Emma liked to call them pseudo-S-class mutants, mostly as a backhanded compliment.

“How far along are you in your healing process?” Emma asked once there was a lull in the conversation.

“Soon. I can feel it. Not more than a couple of days.”

“So, this is it then. What have you decided?”

“...”

“Naruto?”

“sigh I don’t know, Emma. I am seeing the way you work and while your team does effective work, they are often unprepared for the ground reality and have to use their powers unnecessarily to escape a sticky situation. Frankly, they could do with some training and yes, I know this is just a ploy from you to make me stay but I am not doing that until you open up a public front.”

“A public front?” Emma’s voice had a curious undertone to it.

“Yes, a public front, like Xavier’s. He has a school that acts like a beacon to mutants. I want you to do something similar. Then and only then, will I stay, and even then, I will only act on missions I deem fit. I will not become someone’s weapon, to be aimed at anyone you deem as your enemy. Am I clear, Emma?”

….

..

On the other side of that phone conversation, Emma felt something else entirely. She was very much against the idea of opening a public front but thinking of her latest conquests in the business sector gave her pause. It was only due to Shaw’s slavery that she was able to swiftly consolidate her business once it was done assimilating Shaw industries and what a load it was.

Shaw had been sitting on a veritable goldmine of money. His companies were involved in more shady stuff than she was willing to risk on a public company so she had them moved underground where she could restart or revisit them once she had enough resources going in the dark.

The idea of opening a school admittedly appealed to her because if Christian had a school with a supportive system, he would not have chosen to take the drastic actions that he did. In the end, the school would also act as a recruitment center for her so she agreed to Naruto’s demands.

Besides, it was not as if she would not have offered everything including herself to Naruto if it meant keeping him firmly on her side. 

“..Very well, Naruto. We’ll open a school.” She said and hung up the phone.

She was about to continue her work when a small slip of paper dropped on her table. She immediately looked up, her guard completely raised but she could not find any sign of entry into her room. Hesitantly, she opened the note and it read : 

“That was a wise choice, Ms.Frost; Just remember, Naruto isn’t the best of teachers.”

Word Count - 2148