Siege

In the laboratory's front courtyard, two roaring beasts were locked in the most primitive, bloodiest kind of fight.

"ROAR!"

Fire Giant roared and drove his lava-hot fist into X-24's face. The scorching blow instantly charred his flesh with a hiss. X-24's head snapped back, but his body did not retreat an inch, as though the face were not his own.

He knew nothing about headbands or orders. He knew only that the burning giant before him was an enemy.

Ignoring the searing pain in his face, he plunged his steel claws deep into Fire Giant's chest and tore downward. Three gashes opened to the bone. Scalding blood sprayed out, then became a hot mist that drifted away.

Just as the two monsters lunged at each other again, several muffled gunshots cut through the chaos.

"Bang! Bang!"

Two specially made, large-caliber armor-piercing rounds struck X-24. Their force checked his charge and sent him stumbling sideways. He drove his claws into the ground, then whipped his head around.

A dozen or so soldiers in special combat gear stood on the bluestone path nearby, rifles trained on him as they advanced.

Fire Giant seized that split-second distraction. Moving with none of the clumsiness his size suggested, he closed in and wrapped both arms around X-24's waist.

"Raaah!"

His muscles swelled, and the flames around him blazed brighter than ever. He hoisted X-24 overhead with all his strength and slammed him into the ground!

"BOOM!"

A shallow crater formed in the concrete. X-24 lay in it, face contorted and body twitching unnaturally. As he tried to rise, Fire Giant seized his head and pinned it down.

Then Fire Giant's entire arm burst into roaring flames!

"Aaaagh!" Even a beast like X-24 could not hold back a scream as the fire burned him.

"The target has been restrained for now."

General Lake's reinforcements had arrived in time and secured the medical school's perimeter.

One soldier looked at the monster in the crater, then at the giant engulfed in flames beside him. He clicked his tongue. "Damn... what the hell are these things?"

In the corridor, blue smoke flickered like a ghost, carrying the strange mixed smell of sulfur and ozone.

Night Demon appeared and vanished within it. He seemed in no hurry to finish the fight; he was enjoying their game of cat and mouse.

Laura thrust her claws forward, only for her enemy to dissolve into smoke and reappear behind her. Night Demon's steel claws stabbed toward her head!

Laura sensed the attack and spun to defend herself, but struck empty air. The real attack came from her left. Night Demon twisted into an unnatural pose in midair, his claws aimed straight at her ribs.

"Clang!"

Steel claws collided, scattering sparks.

Every one of Night Demon's attacks was cunning and deadly. He steadily drove Laura back until her spine struck the cold alloy wall. She had nowhere left to retreat.

"Is that all you've got, little one?" Night Demon taunted, striking again.

Laura crossed her claws and barely blocked him. Using the force of the blow, she rolled nimbly to the side, trying to escape the corner.

But a blue, barbed tail suddenly lashed out from an impossible angle like a striking snake and cracked across her face!

"Ah!"

Laura cried out and fell, her ears ringing.

Before she could get up, the tail whipped around her neck and tightened. It slowly lifted her slender body into the air, choking her.

"On a closer look, you're rather cute." Night Demon leaned toward her and drew one sharp steel claw lightly across Laura's cheek. Beads of blood slowly welled up.

"You'll make a fine toy..."

Outside the laboratory building's rear entrance.

"Clang!"

Steel claws slid slowly from between Logan's fingers. He crouched low, eyes fixed on the man before him: Impact.

Then he stamped off the ground and charged straight at Impact without hesitation.

At the same moment, the man raised a hand.

Without warning, an invisible pressure appeared and enveloped Logan from the front!

Old Logan felt as though he had run headlong into a wall. A relentless, vibrating force drove through his flesh, churning his organs and making every bone in his body creak.

Logan grunted. His charge stopped dead, leaving him rooted in place.

Before he could recover, the man was in front of him. One hand caught the wrist of his outstretched claw arm, gripping it at precisely the right angle and with just enough force to immobilize him.

His other palm rested almost casually against old Logan's abdomen.

Logan's pupils contracted.

"BOOM!"

At point-blank range, the force-field impact erupted again!

Overwhelming force exploded against Logan's abdomen. Even his heavy Adamantium skeleton could not keep him steady. The blast hurled him backward into a concrete wall more than ten meters away, cracking a wide section of it before he crashed to the ground.

"You're not our target, Wolverine."

Impact did not even glance back as he walked past Logan through the settling dust. His voice was flat and cold.

"We figured out your healing factor and Adamantium claws long ago. You're just a stray dog nobody cares about. If you don't want to die, get out of the way."

From the hollow in the wall came a pained groan.

"...Shut up!"

Logan coughed up blood, then braced himself against the wall and staggered to his feet again.

He gripped his right arm with his left hand and forced the dislocated joint back into place.

"Shit... what the hell are you babbling about..." The old wolf gritted his teeth and took up his fighting stance again.

"Come on!"

Meanwhile, in the laboratory building's ground-floor lobby.

Lightwave Davis kicked open the half-closed wooden door and immediately spotted Miles sitting in a wheelchair at the center of the lobby.

The young man seemed to have been waiting for him.

"Mr. Miles." Davis was in no rush to attack. He even straightened his vest before speaking politely. "I bring you greetings from my commanding officer, General Lake. We're from United States Northern Command. After careful consideration, we believe your abilities deserve adequate..."

"I refuse."

Miles cut him off. Then he raised his head and looked at Davis coldly through bloodshot eyes.

"I hate you motherfucking scum."

Davis's smile stiffened for a moment. Then he sighed. "Well, that leaves me no choice."

Before the words had faded, he charged at Miles!

Miles merely watched him calmly. Under his control, the motor of his electric wheelchair roared, sending him racing backward into a room at the end of the corridor. The door slammed shut behind him.

"Hiss!"

A searing energy beam blasted the lock apart. Davis kicked the door open and followed close behind.

Beyond it lay a narrow maintenance passage crowded with pipes and cables. Miles had already reached the far end. Davis pursued him past a storeroom stacked with large machines. One glance was enough. He raised his hand and fired a series of scorching beams, destroying the equipment before Miles could use it.

"Boom! Boom!" Several precision instruments of unknown purpose burst into balls of fire.

"Is this how you invite someone over?" Miles called from ahead, his mockery echoing down the passage.

"This is how we treat enemies, Mr. Miles," Davis replied evenly as he ran. "I hope you won't make things difficult for yourself."

After a maze of twists and turns, Miles's electric wheelchair shot through a massive iron doorway and into an empty room.

Davis had chased him all the way there. Without a second thought, he rushed in after him.

The instant he entered, a bone-deep chill hit him. Something was wrong.

"Clang!"

The heavy alloy door slammed shut behind him.

Then several thick metal bolts snapped into place one after another, sealing the massive door.

Only then did Davis look at the suspended specimens and the equipment connected to thick pipes around him. He finally realized where he was: the laboratory's cold-storage room.

"Davis Connor. Born in 1992. Active-duty officer. A product of The Purifiers project. Codename: Lightwave..."

Alone before his powerful opponent, Miles slowly recited Davis's file, word by word. Each one seemed to drive a cold nail into Davis's nerves.

"Your ability is Energy Emission. Like a miniature reactor, your body produces intensely destructive high-temperature energy... Which makes me curious..."

Miles raised his head with a nasty smile.

"...How do you get through winter?"

As soon as he spoke, the cooling pipes along the walls began to hum. Dense white vapor poured from countless vents at once, and the temperature in the room plummeted.

Davis's expression changed. He spun toward the sealed door and fired an energy beam at it with all his strength!

"BOOM!"

The heat could have melted ordinary metal. Against the special alloy door, several dozen centimeters thick, it left only a blackened mark.

"German Linde Group's CRYOLINE DP-1500 rapid-freezing unit. The most advanced liquid-nitrogen refrigeration system in the world. German quality you can trust." Miles smiled at Davis and spoke like a tour guide presenting an exhibit. "It can bring the temperature in here down to more than forty below zero in a matter of minutes."

As the temperature dropped, Davis's face grew grim. He could feel his power becoming unstable inside him!

"What do you think will happen to all that high-temperature energy your body keeps producing in an environment like this?"

"Damn you!"

Davis finally lost his composure. He lunged at Miles, seized him by the throat, and lifted him out of the wheelchair. "Where did you get that information?!"

"Open the door! Do you want us both to die in here?"

Suspended in midair, his face reddening from lack of air, Miles showed no panic at Davis's demands. Instead, he grinned and regarded him with open mockery.

"Save it, Davis... You don't dare kill me."

The pressure on Miles's throat left his voice hoarse and distorted. He forced each word out through clenched teeth.

"Let me guess. General Lake ordered you to 'capture me alive at any cost,' didn't he? Since I'm so fragile, you might even have to protect me if it comes to that..."

Davis's expression changed in an instant. Miles's smile widened, edged with something almost sickeningly delighted.

"Oh, looks like I was right..."

"Now for the thrilling 'Ice Cube Challenge'... cough... Who freezes solid first? A cripple like me, or you, 'Captain Marvel Jr.,' when your energy goes out of control and blows you up?"

"And one last friendly reminder..."

Miles used the last of his strength to give him a brilliant, vicious smile.

"The prize for this contest is—staying alive."