Around six in the morning, as the first rays of sunlight began to appear, the wind through the ruins still carried the chill of the night.
Bucky's alloy blade hovered three inches above Steve's head, the metal joints emitting a low hum, like warming up before a program reboot. Steve looked up at him, blood at the corner of his mouth, but his gaze didn't falter. Ye Mo lay on the ground, cracks in the Steel Bone of his right arm had already crept up to his shoulder, creaking with the slightest movement, just like the sound of an old elevator about to fall apart.
"System," he muttered to himself, "Now is not the time to play dead."
[ Lightning Control - Activating] -- A notification finally popped up in my mind, but unlike usual, it didn't have a sound effect. It was like a pop-up window appearing on a lagging phone, taking a beat to appear.
He didn't have time to curse. He slammed his hands down on the ground, his palms pressed against the cracks in the cement. The gene fragments he had absorbed from the Storm's battle remnants suddenly became hot, as if someone had poured a bottle of steroids and lightning into his veins.
"Crack!"
A thick, blue-white bolt of lightning shot out from his palm, striking the ground to the side of Bucky. The stench of burning flesh filled the air instantly, creating a crater the size of a bowl in the concrete, sending debris flying and causing the alarms of nearby wrecked cars to beep once before immediately shutting off—they were probably stunned by the shock.
Bucky reacted with lightning speed. His movements—retracting his long blade, jumping back, and rolling upon landing—were fluid and seamless. He managed to withdraw from the attack range just two centimeters from Steve's nose. He stood still, his metal arm trembling slightly, and a wisp of smoke rose from the gaps in his shoulder armor.
"Good heavens, you managed to dodge that?" Ye Mo gasped as he sat up, his right hand still trembling. "This is the first time I've ever flirted, can't you give me some face?"
No one answered. Emma Frost leaned back on the bench, her eyes closed, her fingers unconsciously digging into the edge of the seat; the signs of her mental exhaustion were even more obvious than before. Steve knelt on one knee, his left hand gripping the edge of his shield, his knuckles white, blood seeping from the bandage on his left shoulder, dripping down his forearm and accumulating into a small dark red patch on the concrete.
Bucky slowly straightened up, his head turning slightly, making a "click" sound like gears meshing. He stared at Ye Mo, his eyes still empty, but the rhythm of his movements changed—no longer the mechanical precision of advancing, but with a hint of assessment, as if he were recalibrating the threat level.
Ye Mo swallowed hard, leaning against the collapsed wall to steady himself. He knew that the attack just now was purely a sneak attack; in terms of control, he wasn't even as good as a high-voltage electrical box. But since he had started, he had to keep going.
"Let's make it a little more exciting," he said in a low voice, placing his hands on the ground again. This time, instead of immediately discharging the electricity, he guided the current to seep into the ground. The cement surface began to tingle slightly, and tiny arcs of electricity flickered on the surfaces of several exposed steel bars, like an old power strip leaking electricity.
Bucky took a step forward.
Ye Mo's pupils contracted, and he immediately detonated the electric field on the ground.
"Boom!"
Several bolts of electricity shot out from the ground, rising upwards in a fan shape, illuminating the entire street with blue and white light. One of them grazed the outside of Bucky's metal arm, sparks flying, the entire prosthetic limb jolted violently, causing him to stagger and nearly touch the ground with his right knee.
"It works!" Ye Mo was overjoyed, but he didn't dare stop talking. "See that? This is high-end technology, no martial ethics involved, just 220 volts!"
Bucky swiftly swung his arm to clear the residual current, the shoulder armor rotated and closed, and the Vibranium plates resonated with a deep hum. He glanced down at the burn marks on his arm, then looked up, his gaze locking onto Ye Mo.
That look in his eyes was so cold it could freeze a high-voltage power line.
"Damn it, I've really angered it." Ye Mo took a half step back, thinking that this thing probably has a built-in lightning protection coating.
Just then, Steve moved.
He gritted his teeth, pushed himself up, and leaped into the air with his right foot, sending the shield flying in a low arc towards Bucky's right blind spot. The movement wasn't fast, but the timing was perfect—it was just as Bucky regained his footing and before his system had fully recovered.
Bucky managed to raise his arm to block, and with a crisp "clang," the shield struck the metal arm, Mars flying. But in that split second of distraction, Ye Mo's second wave of electric field was already poised to strike.
"Brother, take this!"
He pushed his palms forward, and the current converged into a beam, shooting directly to the ground beneath Bucky's feet.
This time, it wasn't a scattering, but a concentrated point. The concrete ground cracked, and electric snakes coiled upwards, instantly enveloping Bucky's metal leg at the ankle. Under the impact of the high-frequency current, the prosthetic limb's transmission system experienced a brief malfunction, his right leg buckled, and he hit the ground with one knee, creating a cloud of dust.
"Beautiful!" Ye Mo shouted, only to realize his voice was a little weak, sweat beaded on his forehead, and his temples throbbed. A system notification flashed in his mind: [ Lightning Control - Cooling Down], but he didn't dare to look closely, feeling as if his brain had been microwaved for ten seconds.
Steve seized the opportunity to rush forward, trying to reclaim the shield and deliver another blow. However, his left shoulder injury was too severe, and he became unsteady on his feet after only two steps. In the end, he could only support himself against the wall with one hand, panting as if he had run a marathon.
Bucky knelt down on one knee, glanced down at the still-smoking prosthetic interface, then slowly raised his head. His metal fingers opened and closed, emitting a mechanical "hum." Instead of getting up immediately, he pressed his left hand to the ground, his shoulder armor slid open, revealing hidden energy conduits, and began to self-cool and repair itself.
Three seconds later, he stood up.
His movements were faster than before, his metal boots leaving shallow cracks on the scorched ground with each step. He no longer looked at Steve, nor paid any attention to Ye Mo, but stared at the gap between the two, as if calculating the optimal attack path.
Ye Mo leaned against the wall, his right hand on the ground, his left hand clenching and unclenching, his fingertips still numb. He knew that those two moves were already the limit; if he released another electric shock, he'd probably be performing a "human kebab" on the spot. But if he didn't act, Steve would be lying flat on the ground in the next second.
" Emma Frost!" he growled, "Can't you even stand up straight?"
Emma Frost didn't open her eyes, but simply raised one finger and made a "1" gesture, meaning she could maintain the basic barrier for another minute, and shouldn't expect her to do anything else.
"Probably not." Ye Mo smiled wryly. "Did I just hire a backup power source or a decoration?"
Bucky began to move.
Instead of charging in a straight line, he cut in at an angle, using the wreckage of the car as cover, his steps as steady as a cruise missile locking onto its coordinates. He gripped the long blade tightly in his right hand, clenched his metal fist in his left arm, and three miniature concussion nails popped out from the joint— Ye Mo had seen these in the database; they were specifically designed to break energy shields, and when they hit a person, they could make the internal organs resonate.
"They're here!" Ye Mo suddenly looked up.
He forced himself to stand up, his feet apart, his hands on the ground again, determined to give it one last shot, even though his head was buzzing. Electricity gathered in his palms, the steel bars on the ground began to vibrate slightly, and several pieces of broken glass floated up, tiny arcs of electricity dancing at their edges.
"You like precision strikes, don't you?" he gritted his teeth. "I'll give you a mass bombardment today!"
Just as he was about to unleash the third wave of electric shocks, Bucky suddenly accelerated and kicked a wrecked car that was rolling away, sending it hurtling towards Ye Mo. He was forced to interrupt his spellcasting, rolled to the side to dodge, and his back slammed into a telephone pole, causing the overhead light to flicker twice before finally going out with a "snap".
Bucky seized the opportunity, leaped into the air, raised his alloy blade high, and charged straight at Steve.
"Damn it!" Ye Mo tried to turn over to stop it, but his Steel Bone arm was completely useless, and he could only watch helplessly as the cold light fell.
In the nick of time, Steve suddenly raised his leg and kicked Bucky in the stomach, using the recoil to roll backward and barely create some distance. He lay on the ground, his shield still three meters away, his breathing growing heavier, but his eyes remained fixed on Bucky.
Bucky landed, his metal arm slowly rising, the long blade pointing towards the three men. His shoulder armor fully deployed, revealing internal cooling vents that emitted a wisp of pale blue steam. He stood in the middle of the street, like a War Machine that had completed its self-check, ready to restart the strangulation program at any moment.
Ye Mo leaned against the broken wall, his right hand on the ground, panting as if he had just finished a 3,000-meter physical fitness test. He glanced at Emma Frost; her eyes were still closed, her face pale, but her fingers were still twitching slightly, indicating that the barrier was still intact. Steve lay on the ground, unable to stand up for the time being. And Bucky was approaching them step by step.
The air condensed.
An electric arc danced on Ye Mo's fingertips, as faint as a lighter running out of power.
Bucky stopped three meters away from them, his metal fingers opening and closing, emitting a low-frequency hum.
The battle is not over yet.