Death Battle on the Island Bridge

Roosevelt Island Bridge.

It was another peaceful night. The city's neon lights flickered in the distance, traffic flowed steadily and orderly beneath the night sky, and everything was as ordinary and reassuring as it had been for the past thousand nights.

"Look! What is that?"

Someone cried out. On one side of the bridge's center, the air suddenly split open into a purple void. Then, a group of strange people emerged from it.

Most of them looked like teenagers. Several wore bizarre yellow-and-black uniforms and looked utterly disheveled, stumbling about the moment they landed as though they had just run a marathon.

"...Mutants?"

Some passersby noticed the unusual appearances of several people in the group and realized something. Instinctively, they pulled out their phones to call the police.

But before they could get any closer, the air before them shattered as well!

Another purple spatial rift appeared out of nowhere before the strange group. It was not fire, yet it radiated an eerie glow, as though space itself had been sliced open into a wound flowing with nightmares.

"Screech—!!"

At the sight, car after car slammed on the brakes, afraid to approach.

"Beep beep beep..."

The cars behind could not see what was happening ahead and frantically leaned on their horns. Within seconds, traffic on the bridge had become completely jammed, while screams and curses rose without end.

Yet at the center of the chaos, the area around that spatial rift was eerily silent.

A tall gray figure stepped out of the portal. The instant it appeared, the oppressive force of its terrifying telekinesis seemed to freeze the air across the entire bridge. Whoever saw that figure felt the instinctive terror and reverence of living creatures rise within them.

Behind it came a woman in uniform and a mask, followed by mutant warriors with wildly arrogant presences...

Finally, a vast number of grotesque-looking Chimera Legion troops began pouring endlessly from the portal and onto the bridge!

"My God! What are those things?!"

"Run! Back up!"

Panic spread like a plague.

The shriek of brakes, frantic honking, and terrified screams instantly replaced everything from before. The once-orderly traffic had turned into an impenetrable wall of congestion. Cars crashed and scraped against one another as drivers desperately spun their steering wheels, only to find that there was nowhere left to retreat.

The panicked crowd scattered in all directions. Driven by the instinct to survive, they cleared out a desolate, wreck-strewn space for the battle about to erupt.

Meanwhile, at ATHENA Headquarters.

The piercing alarms in the command room echoed through the entire building.

"Warning! Warning! Target detected! Location: Roosevelt Island Bridge!"

Ritts stared fixedly at the alert information on the massive screen and slowly smiled.

"You finally came, Obadiah..."

"Madeleine, what's wrong?"

At the center of the battlefield, Miles noticed Madeleine's abnormal state and grabbed her arm.

"Miles..." Madeleine's voice was hoarse and pained. "I don't know... I... I can hear a voice in my heart telling me that man is my enemy. I... have to kill him..."

"Enemy?" Miles instinctively looked toward "Obadiah Apocalypse," then froze when he noticed the "♠" symbol on the other man's forehead.

What is that?

"Aah!!"

Before Miles could look away, golden-red flames burst from Madeleine's body the next instant, hurling him aside beyond her control!

Then, the raging Phoenix Force lifted her up. Like a burning meteor, Madeleine charged toward Obadiah without hesitation!

She needed no reason. The instant she saw Obadiah, Madeleine understood... he was someone she had to kill!

This was her mission!

"Aurora, where are you?!" Miles shouted into the X Terminal as he watched Madeleine's retreating figure.

"We're in the Rocky Mountains of Montana..."

Montana?

Miles gritted his teeth. Montana was in the northwestern United States, while they were currently in New York on the East Coast! Even at the Blackbird's speed, such a distance might take an hour to cover!

"Why did you go so far? Is Charles there?!"

Almost as soon as Miles finished speaking, Charles's familiar, weary voice rang out in his mind. "Miles, it's good that you're all right... Wait, Apocalypse is there with you too?!"

As the world's most powerful telepath, Charles's Telepathy range was terrifyingly vast. At full strength, even without Cerebro, he could cover more than half the United States!

"That's right! We need help!" Miles hurriedly replied.

"Sorry... we still need a little time here. Logan and the others are carrying out a special mission."

"What mission?"

"Rescuing Erik."

Miles froze for a moment.

"Eliminate them."

On the ground, Reyes's cold voice came through her tactical mask, devoid of even a trace of emotion.

She waved an arm, and the Chimera Legion behind her, fused with all manner of mutant abilities, surged forward like a tide and charged toward Miles and the others!

"Let's fight!"

Warpath Prosta let out a thunderous battle cry. His burly body was like a moving fortress as he became the first to meet the torrent of enemies. The muscles in his arms bulged as he grabbed a charging Collision Chimera and, with a furious roar, hurled it aside!

"Watch over my body!" Wraith Charlotte took several steps back, shouted, and sent her spirit out of her body, diving into a Night Demon. The Night Demon's previously confused gaze immediately became clear. In a flash, it appeared beside Warpath Prosta and slashed the throat of the Collision Chimera that had been thrown to the ground!

"Hm?"

Prosta instinctively threw a punch at the Night Demon, but the Night Demon controlled by Charlotte hurriedly explained, "Wait, don't attack! We're allies! Allies!"

"...All right." Prosta nodded. Though he did not quite understand the ability, having someone helping was always a good thing.

"Ugh..." At the same time, Moonstar Dani, who was casting a Mind Illusion, suddenly felt a sharp pain in her head. Only then did she realize that someone had invaded her mind with psychic power!

Before her, the clone White Queen slowly approached with a smile, drawing a long blade.

But she had only taken a few steps when Cannonball Sam crashed into her head-on!

"Crack..." The clone White Queen could only crystallize herself for defense. She blocked Sam's impact and staggered back several steps, releasing her psychic invasion of Dani at the same time. But the next instant, a vine sweeping in from the side suddenly coiled around her ankle.

"Come here!" Rebecca yanked the vine with one hand and forcefully pulled the clone White Queen to the ground!

"Roberto!" Miles shouted.

"No need to remind me!"

As he spoke, Sunspot Roberto Costa, his entire body pitch-black, unleashed a torrent of thermal energy that swallowed the clone White Queen amid a scream!

Diamond was not particularly resistant to high temperatures.

Having just dealt with one troublesome enemy, Miles hurried to Clarice's side and anxiously asked, "Clarice, can you open a portal to Montana?"

"No!" Clarice shook her head nervously. "I can only go to places I've seen!"

"Places you've seen..." Miles's expression shifted as he suddenly thought of another possibility!

He immediately contacted Charles remotely through Telepathy again. "Charles, can you hear me? I need your help!"

"There's a very special mutant here named Clarice. She can open portals to different locations, but only if she has seen the destination with her own eyes..."

In the sky, Madeleine and Obadiah's battle had already erupted!

Golden-red Phoenix flames scorched the heavens. Heat waves twisted the air, and even the bridge's steel groaned. Every wave of Madeleine's hand unleashed a torrent of energy powerful enough to melt a city, roaring toward Obadiah.

Facing Madeleine's attack once more, Obadiah seemed far calmer than before. He raised a hand and formed a telekinetic barrier. Then, as purple light flashed around him, his intangible telekinesis gradually solidified into a purple psionic barrier!

This was the ability of the mutant Psylocke—condensing psychic power into Psionic Weapons!

Obadiah held up the psionic shield with one hand, allowing it to melt continuously beneath the waterfall-like onslaught of Phoenix flames, while his other hand suddenly clenched at empty space!

The air seemed to tighten. Invisible telekinesis gathered, compressed, and took shape in an instant, forming a psionic spear composed of blue-purple psychic power!

He hurled it with all his might. The spear tore through the air, tracing a vicious arc as it shot precisely toward Madeleine's heart from the side!

"Agh!"

Madeleine instinctively grabbed a mass of scarlet flame and violently shattered the energy spear!

But Obadiah seized that opportunity to tear open a portal before him. He stepped through and appeared in front of Madeleine, then reached for her throat!

Against Obadiah's assault, Madeleine, controlled by the Phoenix Force and fighting only on instinct, could not react in time. Obadiah seized her by the throat!

"Ugh!"

She let out a low growl as the Phoenix Force exploded from within her. Scarlet flames formed a gigantic firebird that instantly engulfed Obadiah at point-blank range!

Yet although Obadiah still showed pain this time, he did not lose his ability to move!

The Phoenix Force was doing less damage to him!

By fusing Madeleine's genes into himself, Obadiah had not directly gained the same Phoenix Force, but he had indeed become more resistant to it!

Madeleine, acting on instinct, still did not understand what had happened before Obadiah grabbed her throat again!

Then, Obadiah's other hand, his body in miserable condition, formed another psionic blade from thin air. Without the slightest hesitation, he drove it into Madeleine's abdomen!

Splat!

Madeleine's whole body shuddered violently.

The agonizing pain spread through her body like an electric current, making her mouth fall open stiffly.

Her blood-red pupils, burning with flame, suddenly contracted at that moment, finally regaining a trace of clarity.

What... happened to me?

"Thud, thud, thud..."

Heavy footsteps merged into one continuous rumble as more Chimeras emerged from the enormous portal, seemingly endless. Before long, this stretch of Roosevelt Island Bridge was nearly packed full of these monsters!

Surrounded by several Chimera mutants, Prosta had just knocked down a Night Demon when a suddenly appearing Stalker caught both his arms off guard!

"Ugh!" He let out a pained groan. While his strength was being drained away, he used every ounce of force he had to fling the Stalker aside. But before he could catch his breath, a massive shadow covered him.

Beneath that familiar metal helmet was merciless killing intent.

Two huge fists came down without any flourish, smashing solidly into Prosta's face!

Boom!

Prosta's vision went black. His entire body flew sideways like a cannonball and crashed heavily into the bridge's steel framework with a dull impact that made teeth ache.

"Awooo!"

At that moment, a roar sounded. The Collision Chimera controlled by Charlotte slammed into Juggernaut, finally knocking the giant back several steps and buying Prosta a brief chance to breathe.

"Damn it..."

The Collision controlled by Charlotte growled, extending its arms to brace against Juggernaut. The two enormous creatures instantly fell into a contest of strength, and the bridge deck trembled faintly beneath their feet.

But the next instant, a piercing whistling sound cut through the air!

Two Barrage Chimeras attacked at once. Countless bone spikes shot over like a torrential rain, all striking Collision's back and exploding one after another!

"Boom! Boom! Boom..."

"Ugh!!"

On the other side of the battlefield, Charlotte, lying motionless on the ground, suddenly opened her eyes and curled into a ball in agony.

Whenever her spirit consciousness suffered fatal damage, it instinctively returned to her body. That meant... in that instant, she had truly died once!

"Zzzzt..."

Meanwhile, Sunspot Roberto was flying through the air and exchanging fire with a Seraph. He had only just gained the upper hand when laser beams from several other Seraphs struck him. He cried out and fell from the sky.

"Stop... right now!!"

Ivy Rebecca spread her hands, veins bulging on her forehead!

Several vines shot out together, wrapping around the feet of the Chimera mutants charging at the front and tripping them to the ground.

However... as they fell, even more Chimera mutants charged over their bodies!

There were too many!

"Mr. Miles..." Joshua withdrew his hands from Miles's body. In that brief time, he had restored Miles's physical condition as much as possible, but as a psychic, mental exhaustion was ultimately not so easily repaired.

But it did not matter... this feeling was far from unfamiliar to Miles!

As the legionary tide of over a hundred Chimera mutants rapidly closed in, Miles pressed a finger against his temple and forced out a cold smile.

The next instant, invisible will exploded outward from him!

Mind Control!

Freed from the suppression of the Psychic Shielding Zone, Miles's psychic power surged like a burst dam, instantly engulfing the entire battlefield! More than fifty Chimera mutants stiffened violently, then roared as they turned their claws and fangs toward their own kind!

"Roar!!"

Warpath Prosta, covered in wounds, had just been lifted by a Collision Chimera and was about to be thrown when, the next moment, he was gently set back on the ground.

Then, that Collision turned its head and lunged at another Chimera beside it!

In that instant, the entire battlefield seemed to have been paused, only to resume in an even more chaotic and bloodier fashion!

The charging formation instantly collapsed, and a brutal spectacle of mutual slaughter began!

"Damn it!"

Not far away, Reyes, who had just trapped several mutants including Gideon inside a force-field shield, had a sudden change in expression!

The next instant, a clone Wolverine charged toward her, extending its adamantium claws and forcing her back!

"So powerful..." Dani felt Miles's psychic power engulfing the entire battlefield. She could sense that although the gap between her psychic strength and Miles's was not great, the difference in their wills was like heaven and earth!

At the same time, controlling so many targets at once for the first time brought a violent mental impact that instantly bloodshot Miles's eyes. His head hurt so badly that it felt ready to explode!

It really has been... a while since it hurt this much...

That old bald man can control tens of thousands of people or even more all by himself... how exactly does he do it?!

"Roar!!"

Just as the situation reached a stalemate, the berserk clone Juggernaut Chimera broke through the line in a terrifying charge!

It forcibly endured the combined attack of three controlled Chimera mutants. Like an out-of-control heavy truck, it smashed them until their bones and muscles shattered, then crushed the head of one of its own kind beneath its foot and charged unstoppably toward Miles! The asphalt beneath its feet cracked inch by inch, and every step made the entire bridge shake!

Not good!

Miles, distracted by the intense mental impact, had only just regained his senses when he discovered that Juggernaut was already in front of him!

At that critical moment, a purple ring of light unfolded in midair before Juggernaut.

It was a portal, its edges flickering with sparks of energy!

The Juggernaut clone's simple mind could not comprehend this absurd scene, much less stop his wild charge. He plunged straight in, his massive body vanishing in an instant.

At the same time, a hundred meters above the bridge, an identical ring of light flashed into existence. Juggernaut's figure tumbled out of it and, with an unwilling roar, fell straight into the East River below like a meteor!

Splash!!

With a deafening crash, water erupted from the river's surface.

"Mr. Miles, are you all right?" Clarice asked as she closed the portal. "You look terrible!"

"It's nothing. Thanks." Miles held his head and shook it. "Don't worry about me. This is how we've always fought."

"Also, I have a plan. I need your help..."

Boom—!!!

Just as Miles finished speaking, a terrifying blast powerful enough to rupture eardrums exploded directly above the bridge!

Everyone looked up in unison.

That was Obadiah and Madeleine's battlefield. And now... the residual energy was rapidly dispersing, while the blinding flames had already faded away.

The winner had been decided.

Madeleine's figure fell weakly from the billowing smoke.

"Madeleine!!!"

Miles's eyes widened. Disregarding everything else, he rushed to the edge of the bridge and leaped over it!

Wind howled past his ears as he plummeted faster than ever before, desperately catching the girl whose body was scorching hot and whose life force was rapidly fading.

"Miles... I'm sorry..." Blood spilled from Madeleine's mouth, and her expression was wan. "I lost..."

"Don't... don't die..."

The two clung to each other as they plummeted toward the freezing East River like kites with severed strings.

Just as the river surface came within reach, a purple ring of light appeared beneath them out of nowhere!

A portal!

The immense momentum flung them out of the portal and tossed them back onto the bridge, where Prosta, who had been waiting there, caught them in one sweep. Even he staggered back two steps from the tremendous force.

"Miss Madeleine!"

Joshua hurried forward, pressed his hand against Madeleine's wound, and began healing her injuries.

"No... the Phoenix Force has become even more terrifying!!" Joshua said in horror while healing Madeleine. "If this continues, she won't survive for much longer!"

"...Has it already reached this point?"

Miles gritted his teeth. Just as he was about to say something, he saw Obadiah fall nearby. His flesh had melted away until almost nothing but a skeleton remained, yet he descended with a terrifying aura as immense as a mountain!

Thud!

With a dull crash, the bridge deck in the distance caved in, and spiderweb cracks spread outward.

As the "♠" mark on Obadiah's forehead gradually faded away, his terrifying regenerative ability activated once more. The injuries the Phoenix Force had annihilated began slowly healing. They were visibly recovering much faster than before, and faint crimson flames even flickered amid the regenerating flesh.

This feeling...

Miles carefully sensed Obadiah's mental presence and suddenly thought of a possibility!

"He fused with... Madeleine's genes..."

As the owner of the Apocalypse Body, Obadiah's most terrifying trait was not mere strength, but the potential to continually enhance himself through the genes of other mutants!

The Phoenix Force itself was not a mutant ability and could not be gained through genetic fusion. But by fusing with Madeleine's genes, Obadiah could acquire some degree of compatibility with the Phoenix Force!

Even a tiny amount was enough to cause a qualitative transformation!

On top of that, Madeleine's Phoenix Force was still far from mature. With one side waxing and the other waning, the outcome had already been rewritten.

This time... not even the Phoenix Force could defeat him.

Buzz—!!

The instant Obadiah appeared, an overwhelmingly powerful psychic force far beyond Miles's began sweeping across the entire battlefield!

"Urgh!"

Miles groaned, feeling as though a massive hammer had struck his mind. The agonizing pain he had temporarily suppressed in his excitement erupted with even greater intensity, and blood gushed from his nose again.

The more than fifty Chimera mutants under his control, who had been fighting among themselves, froze at the same moment.

They stiffly stopped biting each other. Then, over a hundred heads instinctively turned toward Obadiah.

As if soldiers were offering their loyalty to their king.

Despair.

Prosta, who had just been healed by Joshua, instinctively stopped charging forward.

"Sunspot" Roberto lay on the ground, watching that terrifying figure draw closer. The hands braced against the ground could not stop trembling.

"Damn it... damn it..."

Charlotte's teeth chattered as she desperately tried to leave her body again, but under Obadiah's terrifying mental pressure, she could not do it at all!

"Is there really no way left..."

Miles swallowed hard and forced himself back to his feet.

His fingers slowly pressed against his temple as he prepared to use his psychic power to forcibly invade "Obadiah Apocalypse" in one final gamble!

But just then, Charles's voice suddenly rang out in his mind.

"Miles, we found Erik!"

"Are you ready?"

"..." Miles froze.

In that instant, the despair on his face turned into wild joy!

"They're finally here!"

As he spoke, Miles's psychic power instantly connected with Blink Clarice's mind!

"Clarice, are you ready?"

"...No problem!"

Clarice looked at "Obadiah Apocalypse" slowly approaching from afar, took a deep breath, and stretched out her trembling hands.

The next moment, an unfamiliar scene emerged in Clarice's mind: the Rocky Mountains of Montana, far away on the other side of the United States!

It was not a still image, but a complete, flowing psychic sensation filled with sound and texture!

She could "see" the wind whining as it swept through abandoned metal. She could "smell" the stale scent of rust in the air. The sky, the earth, the wild grass—every sensation felt as if she were experiencing it herself!

This was Miles's plan. Through the long-distance psychic link between himself and Charles, Charles's terrifyingly broad psychic power, and Miles—who possessed the same ability—as a "psychic relay," Miles would receive the "mental sensation" transmitted through Charles's Telepathy, then directly imprint it into Clarice's mind through Mind Control!

From Blink Clarice's perspective, at this moment, it was as though she truly stood upon the Rocky Mountains of Montana!

Before her, several unfamiliar figures were all looking at her. Then... the nearest one, a tall figure wearing a metal helmet, gently nodded at her.

It has to work...

It has to work!!!

"This is... the place!!"

Clarice's gaze sharpened. Then she clenched her teeth and ripped her hands forward with all her strength.

A purple rift appeared out of thin air at the center of the battlefield!

It was no longer the stable, small portal from before, but a huge and wildly irregular breach, its edges flashing madly with Electro! Violent spatial energy surged out, becoming a visible hurricane that sent the surrounding Chimera soldiers reeling in every direction!

The battlefield fell silent once again.

Everyone stopped what they were doing. Whether X-Men or Chimera Legion, they all instinctively looked toward that enormous purple gate radiating an ominous aura.

On the other side of the gate, several figures slowly stepped through.

"Obadiah Apocalypse" narrowed his eyes slightly as he looked at the suddenly arriving enemy reinforcements. His gaze finally settled on the two people walking at the front.

Professor X, Charles Xavier.

Magneto, Erik Lensherr.