Nirvana

Xavier Institute.

"Bzzzt—"

With a piercing burst of electrical static, every light and screen in the Mind Control Room went dark in an instant, plunging the room into dead silence. The backup power indicators struggled to flicker a few times before finally going dark as well.

"Warning! Unknown... chaotic... signal detected..."

Aurora's warning had only just begun when she fell completely silent before she could finish.

Inside the Mind Control Room, Charles and Magneto, who had been discussing how to modify Cerebro, looked at each other. Both saw a bad premonition on the other's face.

"Aurora? Aurora?!"

Charles kept calling toward the darkened console, but Aurora gave no response.

The AI, which had always been so dependable, had unusually fallen into dormancy.

"Charles, what happened?" Magneto asked.

"Give me a moment. I need to investigate..."

As Charles spoke, he slowly closed his eyes. Vast psychic power spread outward from him like an invisible tide, instantly covering the city, the state, and then over half of the United States.

Chaotic images rushed into his mind.

The power grid had collapsed, transportation systems had failed, and countless vehicles crashed into each other on dark roads. Numbers in bank databases evaporated like waterfalls, vanishing into nothingness. Backup generators in hospitals emitted desperate beeps as life-support systems shut down one by one...

At last, his perception crossed thousands of kilometers and reached California, the Alameda Research Center...

Charles abruptly opened his eyes, his breath catching. His hand instinctively gripped the cold edge of the console as he barely steadied himself.

"...It's Obadiah," Charles said slowly, his voice full of disbelief. "He fused with Miles's ability!"

"What?!" Magneto's gaze instantly sharpened.

"Obadiah fused with Miles's ability to manipulate electronic signals. He caused this nationwide electronic storm!" Charles's voice gradually became hoarse. "What exactly is he trying to do?"

"You're saying Obadiah fused with Miles's ability to manipulate electronic signals?" Magneto repeated, an unusual gleam gradually appearing in his eyes.

Alameda Research Center, laboratory.

The moment Obadiah arrived, the invisible mental shackles blanketing the laboratory suddenly shattered.

The people controlled by Miles woke as if from a dream. Their last memories were still the terror of being forcibly controlled, and the next second, they saw a cold corpse and two "monsters" facing off.

"Who is that?"

"Wait, what happened to Dr. Joseph?!"

Obadiah looked toward the crowd and casually waved his hand.

The next moment, terrifying telekinesis sent everyone who approached flying away.

"Mutant!"

"He killed Dr. Joseph!"

Panic spread like a plague. Screams rose and fell as people scrambled toward the exits, and the laboratory instantly descended into chaos.

Miles glanced at Dr. Stasis's completely lifeless body on the ground, then turned back toward the towering figure slowly approaching him. He clenched his teeth and slowly pressed his fingers against his temple.

"Charlotte, Dani... can you hear me?" Miles tried to contact the others through Telepathy.

"Miles, what happened?" Charlotte asked.

"Run!!"

After sending that final warning, Miles saw Obadiah extending a hand toward him.

It's over.

However, at that moment, Madeleine, who lay unconscious nearby, gave a slight twitch of her eyes.

Then she suddenly opened them!

"Boom—!!!"

An indescribably terrifying power detonated around her!

It was neither Shockwave nor sound, but a pure psychic storm that twisted even the air into ripples. Dense cracks appeared across the laboratory's metal walls, while the ceiling lights exploded one after another, scattering sparks everywhere!

At the center of that chaos, Madeleine's body slowly rose from the ground and floated into the air.

Her eyes, filled with burning, pure, brilliantly vivid scarlet, locked onto Obadiah!

Sensing Obadiah's presence, Madeleine had gone berserk again!

As Miles watched the scene unfold, Dr. Stasis's words from earlier surfaced in his mind.

If she erupts again, the process will be accelerated indefinitely... She may be completely consumed by the Phoenix Force the very next second...

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

Obadiah had also sensed Madeleine's condition and frowned.

The main reason he had appeared here this time was to kill Stasis, whom he had only recently discovered. Encountering Miles had been an unexpected bonus. He had originally intended to take Miles with him, but Madeleine had gone berserk from the stimulation at the worst possible time.

Obadiah could tell that as Madeleine's life approached its final moments, her Phoenix Force was nearing a limit. If he rashly fought her in this state... he would likely suffer grave injuries that could not heal anytime soon, and there was even a chance he might perish alongside her.

She was a bomb completely out of control. Fighting her had no meaning at all. Leaving her alone was the best option, because she was about to blow herself up.

Thus, Obadiah chose to retreat.

"Until next time."

With that, Obadiah decisively opened a spatial portal behind him, stepped backward, and vanished along with the portal as though he had never appeared at all.

The instant Obadiah left—

"AAAAAAH—!!!"

Before the ripples from the closing portal had faded, a scarlet torrent of energy struck precisely where Obadiah had been standing with the force to destroy everything!

There was no explosion, no roar.

Everything in that patch of space—air, dust, even light—was utterly annihilated in an instant, leaving behind only a twisted, silent void.

Her attack missing and her target gone, Madeleine fell completely into madness.

She let out a shriek that tore through the heavens. It no longer sounded human, more like the vibration of pure energy, making Miles's eardrums ache and his organs feel as though they were shifting out of place.

The Phoenix Force surrounding her transformed into an even more terrifying Telekinetic Storm!

"Boom—crack!"

The laboratory's thick alloy walls burst apart. Countless cracks instantly crawled over their surfaces, then they caved inward, twisted, and were finally torn into fragments by an invisible force!

The ceiling and upper-floor structure did not even have time to crack before being ripped directly into the sky, exposing the gloomy heavens beyond, where thunderclouds churned!

"Urgh!"

Miles did not even have time to react before overwhelming telekinesis seized him and hurled him away.

His vision went black as his body slammed heavily into the only remaining half of a load-bearing wall before rolling back onto the ground.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..."

A scarlet energy storm centered on Madeleine tore frantically at reality.

She floated in midair, with not a trace of humanity left in her eyes—only the pure desire for destruction that would burn everything away.

"Miles!"

"This is... Madeleine? What the hell happened?"

Charlotte and Dani appeared at the breach, followed by a grim-faced Laura and Prosta, "Warpath."

The moment they entered the ruins, they saw the figure in the sky, like a demon god at the end of the world.

"So this is her true power?!" Having experienced Madeleine's power at close range, Dani's face was filled with horror.

"There's no other way..." Miles struggled to rise from the ground, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, then took out the Phoenix Serum he had just received from Dr. Stasis and injected it into his neck without hesitation.

"Gah!!" Miles let out a pained growl. It felt as though he had injected aqua regia into his arteries, and horrific pain began coursing through every part of his body with his blood!

Damn it, it has to work!!

Miles threw away the empty syringe, turned to Prosta, and shouted, "James! Charge in with me!"

"What?!" Prosta was startled.

"Her Telekinetic Storm is too strong! My psychic power can't get close, so this is the only way!" Miles roared, his eyes bloodshot. "Hurry! Otherwise, we're all going to die!!"

Clearly, Miles intended to do as he had before: enter Madeleine's mental world himself and pull her back from the brink of losing control!

"Understood!" Hearing Miles's explanation, Prosta stopped hesitating and hoisted Miles onto his shoulder.

"Hold on tight!"

With a roar, the muscles in his legs bulged. The ground beneath his feet instantly cracked, and he charged toward Madeleine at the center of the storm like a cannonball!

Madeleine sensed the threat and released a piercing shriek. A scarlet energy Shockwave condensed out of thin air and blasted down at Prosta!

At that instant, Laura appeared in front of Prosta. She crossed her arms, and the steel claws in her hands sprang out with a clang, blocking the devastating attack!

"Boom—!!!"

Energy collided with steel claws, erupting in blinding light.

Laura lasted less than a second before the irresistible force sent her flying, smashing heavily into distant rubble.

"Damn it..."

At the same time, Dani, "Moonstar," launched Telepathy as well. But after only a brief probe, the terrifying psychic storm knocked her back, making her cry out in pain!

The gap in psychic strength was simply too vast.

"Get ready..."

Taking advantage of the fleeting opening Laura and Dani had created, Prosta pushed through the storm's aftershocks and finally reached a point less than ten meters from Madeleine!

The muscles in his arms swelled to their limit and veins bulged as he used all his strength to hurl Miles from his shoulder toward the figure at the very center of the storm!

"Urgh..." Miles endured the terrifying impact of being inside the Telekinetic Storm, let out a low growl, and released all his psychic power without reserve to resist it!

Sensing Miles approach, Madeleine slowly reached out toward him. Blazing crimson energy gathered in her palm, enough to destroy everything and reduce Miles to ash!

But at that moment, her expression shifted, and the energy in her hand slowly dissipated.

Miles...

The next moment, Miles finally threw himself onto her!

"Madeleine! Wake up!!"

Miles growled, pressing both hands fiercely against her head. At the same time, his consciousness surged without restraint into Madeleine's mental space once more!

This was Miles's second time entering Madeleine's mental world, but the sight before him was several times more horrifying than the last.

Blazing crimson flames burned everything—the sky, the earth, even space itself. And within that sea of fire, ominous blackness continued to spread like ink dripping into clear water, carrying a pure aura of destruction that came from the very root of existence.

The entire world was burning, collapsing, melting.

In the end, it would all be swallowed by that profound darkness.

Within the world of flames, Miles staggered forward through the endless blaze, heading toward where he remembered the girl might be.

"Madeleine?"

"Madeleine, where are you?"

His voice sounded incomparably hoarse and small in this collapsing world.

"I came to find you!"

After walking for who knew how long, Miles finally found the small figure curled up on the ground in a corner that darkness was about to completely consume.

She hugged her knees, burying her face deeply against them as her body trembled without end.

"...So that's how it is..."

The girl's choked sobs came in broken fragments.

"I'm not his daughter... I'm just a bomb..."

"A bomb that could explode at any moment and kill everyone... a bomb..."

Miles came before the girl and sighed. "You aren't a weapon, and you aren't a bomb... You're Madeleine."

"No, Miles, you don't understand..." Madeleine continued murmuring hoarsely. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I should have understood long ago..."

"I've always been influenced by the Phoenix Force, so instinctively... I wanted to get close to you..."

"And then... the result was... dragging you and everyone else into all these dangerous things... I'm sorry... I'm really sorry..."

Her voice was filled with endless regret and despair. As her emotions fluctuated, the mental world collapsed faster and faster.

The sky shattered, and the earth broke apart.

Everything was about to be destroyed.

"Now isn't the time to apologize... Come with me first." Miles extended a hand toward Madeleine. "Let's go. Everyone is waiting for you..."

"No, I already... can't leave..."

As Madeleine spoke, she slowly raised her hand.

Then Miles clearly saw that the same black flames were burning on her palm.

The flames burned quietly and ceaselessly. Without anyone noticing, they had already spread throughout her body, devouring every part of her.

"Leave, Miles... If you don't go now, you'll burn to death with me too..."

"Smack!"

A soft sound rang out.

Miles grabbed Madeleine's hand, the one burning with black flames.

The next moment, agonizing pain instantly spread through all of Miles's consciousness!

"Miles! What are you doing?!" Madeleine was startled and instinctively tried to push him away, but Miles held her hand tightly and refused to let go.

"...Ah... It really is... a little painful..."

Amid the pain of flames burning his soul, Miles barely forced out a smile. "You made it sound so terrifying, so I got curious, and... wanted to try it..."

As Miles spoke, the flames burning Madeleine's consciousness gradually spread onto Miles as well, scorching them both.

"Miles! Don't do this!!" Madeleine's eyes widened. "You'll die!"

"I... I just wanted to try it," Miles said painfully. "When Gabriela died... I didn't make it in time... When X-24 was killed protecting me... I couldn't do anything either..."

"So now... I don't want... to see... you also... die like this..."

"But... it's already too late..." Madeleine, whose body was more than half burned away, looked at Miles as he gradually drew closer and said tremblingly, "Miles... you don't need... to go this far... for me..."

"I won't give up on you..."

At the edge of consciousness, Miles murmured as if speaking to himself.

"...Because... you are..."

"The first girl to ever say... 'I like you' to me..."

The next instant, black flames swept across the sky, completely devouring Miles and Madeleine's consciousness!

After an unknown amount of time, Miles slowly woke up.

He found himself lying in the Blackbird's cabin, while Madeleine beside him slowly opened her eyes as well.

The two exchanged a glance, each seeing something unusual in the other's eyes.

Their faces had been a little too close...

Then, they silently got up, pretending nothing had happened before.

"Hey, those two..." Moonstar Dani covered her mouth, about to say something, only for Laura beside her to warn her with her claws.

Shut up.

At the same time, Miles struggled to sit up, secretly letting out a long breath.

Looks like it worked.

"Miles, are you okay?" Charlotte asked from beside him.

"I'm fine. I feel much better now," Miles replied.

"That's good." Charlotte nodded. "Speaking of which, you two earlier... uh, never mind. It's nothing."

Seeing Laura's icy gaze, Charlotte wisely shut her mouth.

Miles also turned back to look at Laura. The brother and sister nodded in perfect understanding.

"That research center has been sealed off by the Federal Bureau of Investigation," Prosta said. "Good thing we got you and Madeleine out ahead of time, or there would've been more trouble."

"Thanks, James." Miles nodded.

"No need to thank me." Prosta waved a hand. "So, where are we going next?"

"There's no rush. I need to contact the academy first..." As Miles spoke, he laboriously made his way to the cockpit's main pilot seat. "Aurora, can you hear me?"

"Yes, Miles." Aurora's voice came through. "The academy base's mainframe has restarted."

"How are things on Charles's end?"

"Professor Charles Xavier and Mr. Erik are discussing improvements to Cerebro in the Mind Control Room," Aurora replied. Then, in a subdued tone, she added, "I'm also investigating information related to the Leech Factory as thoroughly as possible, but unfortunately, the situation isn't looking very good."

"Whew... Ritts's Project ATHENA?" Miles muttered. "Let Charles and the others handle that issue for now. It may take us some time to return... ngh!!"

As Miles spoke, his body suddenly shook, and he nearly collapsed to the floor again.

At that instant, he suddenly felt an unfamiliar power within him, burning continuously like flames...

This is...

Before Miles could examine the feeling closely, Charles's voice suddenly rang out in his mind. "Miles, what's wrong? I heard you just encountered Obadiah?!"

"It's nothing. He's already gone."

Forcing himself to stay alert, Miles rose and answered, "What about the academy? Are you all okay?"

"Other than one large-scale blackout, there haven't been any other abnormalities. Did your investigation yield any results?"

"Yes. We gained a great deal."

Miles did not hide anything. Through Telepathy, he told Charles everything about the secret of Four-in-One Essex, along with those insane plans.

"This... so that's how it was..."

Even Charles, with all his experience, was deeply shocked upon learning the truth.

"Be careful, Charles," Miles said seriously. "I suspect that ♦ may be hiding within the academy!"

"I'll be careful. What about you? Are you returning immediately?"

"No... I'm going to keep investigating," Miles said. "I just remembered another clue. Do you remember that female agent on the Roosevelt Island Bridge? I searched her memories. She was a double agent. Besides working for ATHENA, she also took orders from a strange man... I didn't think much of it before, but now... there's a strong chance that guy is connected to the mysterious ♦!"

"You're still going to continue? Isn't that too dangerous?" Charles asked gravely. "Obadiah has already revived. He could come after you at any time!"

"Don't worry, Charles," Miles said. "This time... I have a way to deal with him..."

As he spoke, a wisp of golden-red Phoenix Fire flashed through Miles's eyes and vanished.

After ending the call with Charles, Miles once again recalled the memories of the female agent Hummingbird. Gradually, he locked onto the mysterious man hidden in the shadows.

He was the figure in Jennifer's memories who had ordered her to muddy the intelligence surrounding the ATHENA Office and Ritts—a figure who seemed to be at odds with Ritts, yet remained hidden behind the scenes.

"Aurora, help me find someone."

The next second, this portrait formed from memories turned into a stream of electronic data through Miles's consciousness and was sent directly into the Blackbird's central computer.

"Matching against global databases... facial feature recognition..."

Several minutes later, Aurora delivered the results of the investigation.

"Target locked."

"Christopher Lopez, forty-two years old, Johnson Secret Base in Montana, Level Two Supervisor..."

"Johnson Base? What kind of place is that?" Miles asked.

"A secret base deep within the Rocky Mountains. Hummingbird Jennifer once stayed there for a time because of a special mission," Aurora replied. "At the same time, it was also where Mr. Erik, Magneto, was previously imprisoned."

"What?!" Miles's eyes widened. "Aurora, are you sure?"

"I'm sure."

"..."

After receiving Aurora's confirmation, Miles fell silent for a long while without responding.