Chapter 289 Apologies, Apologies

Previously,

Jean Grey and White Mist had an epic showdown by the American Dome. And Jean Grey won by the skin of his teeth, thanks to his strategy and his careful choices of beasts. White Mist, who had been the defending champion of the Official Beast Tournament had been kicked off his throne. His thoughts about Jean Grey had changed as well, and he intended to apologize to Jean Grey. After all, he was the one who targeted him and the American number one superhero Jack Michael. He didn't know any details about them but he blindly followed the government in their pursuit of trying to eliminate the two from this life.

.....

White Mist arrived in front of a towering hotel, wearing a white tuxedo as he walked out of his limousine. He heaved a sigh, indicating his nervousness as he walked towards the entrance. The hotel was one of the most expensive hotels in America, and inside was a restaurant wherein he had invited everyone related to the incident back at the Beast Dimension. This included the Midoriyamas, the Greys, as well as Emma, and the number one superhero of America, Jack Michael.

A while back, White Mist received a call from Midoriyama Tatsuki, asking him if he could bring another person to the meeting. White Mist didn't mind at all.

"Welcome to the Grand Hotel, sir," The two guards who stood on two sides of the entrance bowed towards White Mist as he entered the Grand Hotel. Even though they were die-hard fans of the one and only White Mist, they still acted as professionally as they could. They bit their lips, thinking that they just had the worst timing. If the two of them, weren't working right now, they'd have pulled out a notebook or something so White Mist could sign it. They can't afford to act unseemly though since the reputation of the Grand Hotel was on the line.

White Mist pulled something from his pockets and handed it to the two guards.

Before they realized what was going on, White Mist had already gone inside, waving toward them. When they looked back to their hands, they realized that White Mist had just handed them a framed signature of his. They held it close to their heart before bowing down toward White Mist. Apparently, he noticed that they badly wanted an autograph and he was proactive enough to give them.

The encounter somewhat calmed White Mist. But the moment he entered the restaurant, the nervousness that temporarily left him came back, and it was twice the amount he experienced prior to entering the Grand Hotel.

From afar, White Mist saw the faces of Jack Michael, Jean Grey, and Midoriyama Tatsuki. He felt as if his throat was choking itself as he walked forward. He assumed the head seat of the table, but before he did so, he bowed in front of everyone. "Thank you so much for accepting this invitation. At first, I thought all of you won't show up."

White Mist then cleared his throat before his head turned towards Tatsuki. "Um... and your additional guest, who is it?" White Mist asked in a low tone.

"Oh, she's here." Tatsuki casually responded as he pointed at the little girl at the far end of the table. She was red-haired, and the first thing that White Mist noticed was the number of milkshakes she had already drunk. "Sorry about that, she said she wanted to taste all the milkshakes available in this restaurant. I'll pay for her drinks."

"No that's fine. Now that we're on the topic. I should be the one apologizing to all of you. As you might've already guessed, I'm the one who attacked you... you know, back at the Beast Dimension." White Mist called out.

"Hah! I knew it! See, I told you guys! You didn't believe me." Satoshi exclaimed, pointing at White Mist as if he had just won a non-existent contest. "I knew something was up when that smoke came up from behind you!"

"Wait, that was you?!" Jean Grey exclaimed. "You were the one who threatened me back there? Like, you're the one who supposedly kidnapped my son?!"

"What do you want?! Speak up if you don't want to die!" Jack Michael, the number one superhero of America, raised his fists and pointed them toward White Mist. He wore the most serious expression on his face just so his threat would be as convincing as his words.

"Relax, I didn't mean any trouble. I was tricked back then. Allow me to explain everything over dinner." White Mist said.

On his signal, the waiters who were waiting from afar brought the food. He had ordered a lot, more than enough for everyone. Everyone could tell that the conversation would be longer than they had initially expected.

"And here I was, thinking that we'd be talking about beast battles. Who'd have thought you were the one who attacked us. While I did have some suspicions, I brushed it off since I was looking forward to the beast battle." Jean Grey muttered, reaching out his hand so he could grab a t-bone steak.

"I'm sorry about that. Let me tell you all about it." White Mist began.

White Mist started the story with the mission he received from both the Japanese and the American Governments. This was back when the Dimensional Portal to Jean Grey's world opened somewhere in the Sea of Japan. The government wanted to bring the Dimensional Portal down despite the consequences it would incur to the other side. When a Dimensional Portal was destroyed, it would release massive amounts of energy akin to a nuclear bomb, and it would completely destroy the other side of the Dimensional Portal.

And yet, the Japanese Government was keen on destroying it. "Apparently," White Mist continued. "Your Japanese Government had been tipped by our government, and they said that a threat to the world existed on the other side of the portal. That's why they were keen on destroying it no matter the ramifications."

"I've heard about that. That's why I just had to go over there and help. Apparently, the American Government was trying to eliminate my friend here, branding him as an alien or something."

"I mean, technically we are aliens." Ash Grey pointed out.

"In any case, your defense was successful, and the Japanese Government had no choice but to back down on this one. However, their plan to eliminate the threat didn't end there." White Mist continued. "I didn't know any better when the American and the Japanese Government gave me a mission."

White Mist cleared his throat before he said his next words. "I... well, they told me that you, Jack Michael, had betrayed humanity and that you were siding with a calamity that will destroy the world. I was given the special mission to get rid of you as well as to get rid of the calamity. They were referring to Jean Grey, of course. I don't know why they see him as a threat though."

"Before I was sent out on my mission, I was given all the information regarding your family, Jean Grey, and they even tracked down the movements of everyone around you. That's why I was able to fake kidnapping your son, and lure you straight into my trap." White Mist continued. "Back then, I really intended to kill you and Jack Michael... the American and the Japanese Governments gave me a mission, and as you know, Jack Michael, we are under the government despite being powerful enough to overthrow them."

"So I went on with the mission... but I was surprised that you brought company with you. And not only that... who would've thought that your son, Jean Grey, actually has two representatives on his side. My Death Metronome told me that they really were representatives like him. I was surprised." White Mist let out a forced chuckle before taking a swig of wine. "That's why I just had to retreat. I didn't stand a chance against all of you coming at me simultaneously."

"Then we had our battle just a couple of hours ago. During that battle, I realized that you were a good person. I didn't know any better. I shouldn't have blindly attacked you without knowing the details first. And for that, I am sorry." White Mist apologetically said. "I mean... so what if you're a threat to the world, Jack Michael and I could easily be branded as calamities as well but you were only branded like that since you came from another world."

"I'm sorry for attacking you like that back there, and even going as far as to pretend that I kidnapped your son. From now on, I'll make it up to you by making your stay here in America as comfortable as I could. You'll be joining the Official Beast Tournament, right?" White Mist asked. "And I presume, Satoshi is also joining, correct?"

Jean Grey and Satoshi nodded in response.