Madness

Chapter 10: Madness

"Sorry, but I don't see anything beautiful about this place. You crazy bitch, what the hell did you do to them?"

Pietro leaned against the wall, using friction to slowly drag himself upright. Anyone could see the unease in his eyes. This wasn't his first time facing a mutant with telepathic abilities, and he knew all too well how twisted their powers could be.

"I brought them grace and salvation. Everything is for the next generation. Look at them, look at these little darlings—newborn Telepaths. Do you know what that means? We are the chosen of God. And I, I can bestow these blessings upon them too."

Emma's expression twisted violently, her entire face contorting into something grotesque. Yet her eyes brimmed with maternal love. She gently stroked the heads of the two girls, as if capering some rare treasure.

Watching this, Pietro only felt nausea. He stepped back twice, trying to put distance between himself and Emma, seeking some sense of safety. "If turning into a lunatic counts as a blessing, then the one who brings such a blessing isn't a god—it's a demon."

The low murmurs started up again. Pietro felt that whenever he tried to actively think about anything, those voices would drive him insane.

Was this Emma's telepathy, that crazy bitch?

Pietro felt wrapped in some indescribable force. The sick feeling in his gut grew worse. Then he lost partial control of his body. He trembled uncontrollably, barely able to stand.

"Say what you will, Speedster. You have no idea what kind of revolution my creations will bring to this world." Emma smiled, her face smoothing back into its earlier calm, though her gaze at Pietro held a hint of mockery.

"You're bringing destruction to the world," Pietro forced out, fighting through his physical discomfort.

But his condition was at rock bottom. He shook his head violently, his vision blurring like a nearsighted man suddenly yanking off his glasses. Through the haze, Pietro saw mist rising around them.

No, strictly speaking, it wasn't mist. Pietro didn't know what it was.

It gathered from the gaps in the iron doors lining the corridor, coalescing with alarming speed. It seemed to have a mind of its own, rolling and churning around Pietro and Emma. Within the fog, faint human silhouettes could be glimpsed.

At first, Pietro thought his eyes were playing tricks on him. But when he forced himself to focus through the nausea, he saw with horror that the figures hidden in the pale mist were faceless little girls.

Now Pietro finally understood what these twisted things, saturated with negative energy, really were. Meanwhile, Emma kept talking, lost in her own world.

"Honestly, if there really is a god in this world, then you are truly a gift sent to me." Emma spread her arms, as if to embrace Pietro.

"You lunatic!" Pietro cursed. "Don't you have telepathy too? Can't you see the Psychic Energy all around you? You turned these children into this—is that what you call a blessing?!"

"You! You can actually sense it!" Emma's eyes lit up. She grew excited, her gaze at Pietro filled with possessiveness, though she quickly suppressed it.

"Yes, this is what I must do. I lost everything." Emma spoke softly, as if recalling something terrible, her hands trembling slightly. "My blessings, everything I had—gone. God took them back. I don't know what I did wrong."

If anyone saw Emma like this, they'd think she was a pitiful woman suffering a great injustice. But Pietro only wanted to run as far away as possible.

"So. I will take them back!" Emma's humanity vanished in an instant, leaving only madness. She pulled off her gloves. Where fair, delicate hands should have been, there was now gleaming Diamond.

"This is my power. No one can take it from me! Not even God!!!"

Emma lunged at Pietro. Her Diamond fingers clamped around his throat. The immense force choked him instantly, leaving him unable to struggle.

"And you, Speedster—you will be my most crucial experiment. Don't worry, I won't kill you. You're different from them. Those children may have strong potential, but they're still just mortals, unable to bear telepathic power. But you—your brain is tough. Very, very tough!"

Emma's other hand rose slowly. She grabbed her white hair and yanked hard. The next moment, a scalp covered in stitched scars and bloodstains was exposed before Pietro.

Clearly, Emma had performed multiple craniotomies on herself. However she'd managed it, the marks crawled across her scalp like centipedes. The horrifying sight would make anyone's legs go weak.

"Don't worry. You won't die. You'll live on—inside my head. As long as—"

BOOM!

A blinding light erupted, streaking in from afar. In an instant, it tore through the darkness of the entire corridor. Like a bolt of lightning, it flashed and vanished, blasting Emma away.

The beam's force sent Emma hurtling through the air before she slammed heavily into the ground with a sound like clashing metal.

Then, a slightly angry voice rang out in the silent corridor.

"Let go of my brother, you freak."

Hearing that familiar voice, Pietro's legs gave out. He dropped to his knees, tears streaming uncontrollably.

"You okay, Pietro?" Zhang Ye sprinted to Pietro's side, his Iron Suit-clad left arm aimed at Emma's direction as he tilted his head to ask.

"Why'd you take so long?! You know I almost died, right?!" Pietro grabbed Zhang Ye's clothes, sobbing.

If he'd been alone, Pietro would have forced himself to stay tough. But now that Zhang Ye was here, Pietro finally had someone to lean on. He was like a bullied child finding a parent, wanting to pour out all his grievances.

"Alright, alright, I get it." Zhang Ye offered a perfunctory comfort. "Don't forget our plan. Find that helmet. Leave this to me."

"Helmet? I don't know where it is. I can't use my super speed here—the telepathy will shred my brain." Pietro covered his head in fear. He never wanted to go through that again.

Hearing this, Zhang Ye realized the environment wasn't as simple as he'd thought. It specifically affected Pietro, while he, an ordinary human, felt nothing at all. He didn't know if that was good or bad.

"Then slow down, Pietro. I believe in you."

"But I really don't know where that helmet is! This place is too big—there's no way to search!" Pietro wailed, pointing sharply at Emma. "I thought she'd be wearing it on her head."

"If she were, she couldn't use her telepathy either. Look around. There's only one place in this facility where that helmet could be used."

"You mean the lab!" Following Zhang Ye's hint, Pietro immediately caught on.

Zhang Ye didn't say more. He shoved a submachine gun loaded with bullets into Pietro's arms. "I believe in you."

Taking the gun, Pietro looked at Zhang Ye's grim face and nodded slightly. Then, as if steeling his resolve, his nods grew firmer. He scrambled to his feet, gave Zhang Ye one last deep look, and ran without looking back toward the other end of the corridor.

Watching Pietro's figure swallowed by the darkness until it vanished completely, Zhang Ye finally turned his gaze back to Emma, whom he'd blasted away.

"Time to talk about us, Emma. You've really broken my heart."