In the front courtyard of the laboratory, two roaring beasts were locked in a savage, primeval slaughter.
“Raaargh!”
Ifrit bellowed, his fist burning like molten slag as a wave of scorching heat slammed heavily into X-24’s face.
The searing heat charred flesh to ash in an instant, accompanied by a sharp hiss of vapor.
X-24’s head snapped back violently, yet his boots never retreated an inch—as if the face that had just been burned away didn’t even belong to him.
He knew nothing of headbands, nor did he care about orders.
He knew only one thing: the towering inferno before him was the enemy.
Ignoring the searing agony and scorched flesh, his adamantium claws flashed with terrifying speed, sinking deep into Ifrit’s chest before tearing outward with brutal force.
Three gouges opened bone-deep, spilling boiling blood that instantly aerosolized into a red, scalding mist.
Just as the two monsters lunged at each other once more, dull gunshots cut through the chaos of the battlefield.
*Bang!
Bang!*
Two specialized, large-caliber armor-piercing rounds tore into X-24’s torso.
The sheer kinetic impact halted his forward charge, sending him staggering sideways.
His claws stabbed into the earth to stabilize his momentum, and he whipped his head toward the source of the fire.
Not far off on the cobblestone path, over a dozen soldiers in tactical combat gear were advancing with rifles raised, their crosshairs locked on his form.
Ifrit seized that fleeting distraction.
The massive brute closed the distance with terrifying agility, wrapping his arms around X-24’s waist.
“Raaagh!”
His muscles bunched and surged, the flames engulfing his frame flaring to an blinding crescendo.
He hoisted X-24 high overhead and drove him viciously into the ground!
*Boom!*
The concrete buckled into a shallow crater.
X-24 snarled as his limbs twitched spastically in the depression.
But before he could rise, Ifrit’s massive hand slammed down, pinning his skull against the broken ground.
In the next breath, Ifrit’s entire arm ignited in raging, white-hot fire!
“Aaargh!” The agony of the flames forced an unearthly shriek from the feral clone.
“Target is temporarily subdued.”
General Ryker’s follow-up units arrived in tight formation, completely securing the perimeter around the medical institute.
One soldier peered down at the monster in the crater, then glanced at the giant blazing beside it, smacking his lips in disbelief.
“Jesus Christ…
what kind of monsters are these?”
…
Inside the corridor, blue smoke flickered like a phantom, leaving behind a foul stench of sulfur and ozone.
Night Demon blurred in and out of the vapor.
He was in no hurry to end the fight; instead, he seemed to relish the game of cat and mouse.
Laura thrust her claws forward, but her target dispersed into a cloud of mist.
A heartbeat later, he materialized behind her, his adamantium claws lunging straight for the back of her head!
Sensing the strike, Laura spun to parry, but struck empty air.
The true blow came from her left flank—Night Demon’s body contorting at an unnatural angle midair as his claws raked toward her ribs.
*Clang!*
Claws clashed, showering the hall in sparks.
Every strike of Night Demon’s was erratic, lethal, and relentlessly boxed her in.
Within moments, Laura’s back slammed hard against the cold alloy wall.
She was out of room to maneuver.
“Is that all you’ve got, little girl?” Night Demon sneered, lunging forward once more.
Laura crossed her claws to catch the blow.
Using the force of the impact, she rolled nimbly to the side, breaking away from the dead end of the corner.
Before she could regain her balance, a barbed blue tail lashed out from an impossible angle, whipping across her face like a striking viper.
“Ngh!”
Laura cried out, tumbling to the floor as her ears rang violently.
Before she could push herself up, the tail coiled around her throat like a serpent, hauling her slender frame off the floor until her feet dangled in the air.
The brutal grip tightened, cutting off her breath.
“Up close, you’re actually kind of cute.” Night Demon stepped toward her.
With a mocking smirk, the tip of one sharp claw trailed down her cheek, leaving behind a thin bead of scarlet.
“A very nice little plaything…”
…
Outside the laboratory’s rear exit.
*Snick!*
He lowered his stance, eyes locked on the man standing before him: Impact.
Then, with an explosive kick off the ground, he charged without hesitation.
At the exact same moment, the man raised his hand.
Without warning, an invisible wall of force materialized, slamming into Logan from the front!
Old Logan felt as though he had struck solid bedrock at terminal velocity.
A violent, oscillating shockwave tore through his flesh and rattled his internal organs, setting every bone in his body groaning.
Logan grunted, his forward momentum dying instantly as he froze in place.
Before he could recover his senses, the man was already upon him.
A hand clamped with pinpoint accuracy around the wrist of Logan’s extended claws, twisting the joint with effortless leverage to leave him completely immobilized.
His other palm settled lightly against the pit of Logan’s stomach.
Logan’s pupils contracted.
*Boom!*
At point-blank range, the force field erupted!
A devastating kinetic blast ripped through Logan’s gut.
Even his heavy adamantium skeleton couldn’t anchor him against the raw energy.
He was hurled backward through the air, crashing into a concrete wall a dozen meters away.
The impact spiderwebbed the masonry before he slumped heavily into the dirt.
“You’re not our objective, Wolverine.”
Impact didn’t even look back.
He walked past Logan amidst the drifting dust, his voice flat and detached.
“Your healing factor and your adamantium claws were thoroughly dissected and understood by us long ago.
You’re nothing more than a stray dog nobody cares about.
If you don’t want to die, crawl away.”
From the depression in the wall, Logan let out a pained groan.
“…Shut the hell up!”
He spat out a mouthful of blood and staggered to his feet, bracing himself against the crumbling concrete.
Clamping his left hand around his right shoulder, he forced the dislocated joint back into place with a sickening pop.
“Shit…
talking all that damn trash…” The old mutant bared his teeth, raising his claws back into a combat stance.
“Come on, then!!”
…
Meanwhile, in the ground-floor lobby of the laboratory.
Davis—Lightwave—kicked open the unlatched wooden door.
The first thing he saw was Miles, sitting in a wheelchair in the center of the room.
The boy appeared to have been waiting for him.
“Mr.
Miles.” Davis was in no rush to attack.
He even adjusted his vest, speaking with practiced courtesy.
“On behalf of my superior, General Ryker, I bring you greetings.
We represent the United States Northern Command.
After careful evaluation, we believe your talents deserve adequate—”
“I refuse.”
Miles cut him off before he could finish.
He raised his head, his bloodshot eyes staring at the soldier with icy disdain.
“I can’t stand you sons of bitches.”
The smile on Davis’s face stiffened.
He sighed in mild resignation.
“Then I’m afraid we have no choice.”
The words had barely left his lips when he lunged forward!
Miles remained completely still.
At his mental command, the motors of his electric wheelchair let out a high-pitched whine.
The chair shot backward, retreating down the corridor and into a room at the far end before the door slammed shut with a sharp *bang*.
*Crack!*
A beam of searing energy obliterated the lock.
The door was kicked open a second later as Davis barged through in hot pursuit.
Beyond lay a narrow maintenance corridor crowded with exposed pipes and conduits.
Miles was already near the far end.
Davis sprinted after him, glancing into a utility room packed with heavy machinery along the way.
Without hesitation, he raised his hands and unleashed beams of concentrated heat, proactively melting and ruining any equipment that could be weaponized.
*Boom!
Boom!* Several precision instruments erupted into fireballs.
“This is how we handle enemies, Mr.
Miles,” Davis replied calmly as he closed the distance.
“I suggest you stop making this harder on yourself.”
After several sharp turns, the electric wheelchair cleared a massive iron threshold and rolled into a cavernous, empty room.
Davis, following hot on his heels, dashed inside without thinking.
Yet the moment his boots crossed the threshold, bone-chilling air struck him full in the face.
A creeping sense of dread tightened in his gut.
*Clang!*
With a heavy thud, the heavy alloy door slammed shut behind him.
The distinct clatter of multiple heavy locking bolts falling into place followed in rapid succession, sealing the iron barrier shut.
Only then did Davis take in the arrays of specialized canisters and thick overhead conduits lining the room.
He realized where he was: the laboratory’s cryogenic storage facility.
“Davis Connor.
Born 1992.
Active-duty officer, product of the Purifier program, codename ‘Lightwave’…”
Facing this formidable adversary alone, Miles began reciting his dossier slowly, deliberately, word by word.
Each syllable struck Davis’s nerves like an iron spike.
“Your ability is ‘Energy Projection.’ Your body functions like a miniature reactor, generating intensely destructive, high-temperature energy…
Which makes me wonder…”
Miles tilted his head up, his lips curling into a vicious smile.
“…How do you usually spend your winters?”
The moment he finished speaking, the refrigeration lines along the walls began to hum with a low vibration.
Dozens of nozzles simultaneously vented dense plumes of white, freezing mist, causing the room’s temperature to plummet at an alarming rate.
Davis’s expression morphed into panic.
He spun on his heel and unleashed an energy beam at the sealed door with everything he had!
*Boom!*
The searing blast—hot enough to liquefy ordinary steel—slammed into the several-decimeter-thick specialized alloy, leaving behind nothing more than a scorched black smudge.
“CRYOLINE DP-1500 cryogenic freezer, manufactured by the Linde Group of Germany.
The most advanced liquid-nitrogen refrigeration unit in the world.
German engineering—truly dependable,” Miles murmured with a faint chuckle, sounding like a tour guide showcasing a museum exhibit.
“It can drop the temperature in here to minus forty within minutes.”
As the surrounding air grew colder by the second, Davis’s face twisted into an ugly grimace.
He could feel the energy surging within his body beginning to fray and destabilize!
“Care to guess what happens to a body generating that kind of heat in a deep freeze like this?”
“God damn you!”
Losing his composure completely, Davis closed the gap in a single stride.
He seized Miles by the throat and yanked him straight out of his wheelchair.
“Where did you get that intel?!”
“Open the damn door!
Are you trying to kill us both?!”
Suspended in the air, his face flushing crimson from the lack of oxygen, Miles showed no sign of terror.
Instead, his mouth stretched wide, regarding the frantic soldier with unadulterated mockery.
“Save it, Davis…
You don’t have the guts to kill me.”
Miles’s voice was hoarse and distorted through his compressed windpipe, each word forced out between gritted teeth.
“Let me guess.
The orders from your superior, General Ryker, were to ‘take me alive at all costs,’ weren’t they?
And given how fragile I am, if it came down to it, you’d even have to protect me…”
Seeing the sudden flicker in Davis’s eyes, Miles’s smile grew wider, tinged with a manic, almost morbid delight.
“Ah…
looks like I hit the nail on the head.”
“Which means it’s time for our thrilling little ‘Ice Bucket Challenge’…
*cough, cough*…
Who do you think taps out first?
A crippled invalid freezing into an icicle, or our brave little ‘Captain Marvel’ blowing himself to pieces from unstable energy?”
“One final, friendly reminder…”
Summoning the last of his breath, Miles flashed a smile that was both dazzlingly bright and poisoned with malice.
“The grand prize for this competition…
is surviving.”