Darren's palms were filled with energy beams to their limit, the orange-yellow light so bright it was blinding. Ye Mo stood before the ruins, half his body still covered in lime dust, blood still lingering at the corner of his mouth, standing there stiffly like an iron stake driven into the concrete.
He didn't back down.
At the corner of the passage behind them, Scott was dragging Emma Frost deeper inside. Their movements were so slow it was like shuffling through mud, their knees scraping against the ground with a soft, screeching sound. Emma Frost's head was tilted against his shoulder, her eyes half-closed, her lips pale, and even her breathing was trembling.
"Go!" Ye Mo roared, his voice cracking as if it were squeezed out of a red-hot iron pipe.
The shout drew Darren's attention back. He squinted at Ye Mo and sneered, "You're really planning to take a bullet for them?"
Before the words were even finished, two high-energy particle beams shot out with a roar.
Ye Mo crossed his arms to protect his chest, forcibly activating the last bit of energy from the Steel Bone program. The alloy layer covered his entire body with a "click," and smoke was still rising from the short circuit in his left shoulder, but he ignored the pain and simply stretched his body out to the side.
The moment the beam of light struck the alloy breastplate, the entire passageway was illuminated as if it were daytime.
The shockwave exploded, sending hot air and metal fragments flying everywhere. Ye Mo was thrown half a foot off the ground, his back slamming into the broken wall, but his feet remained rooted to the spot. Dust and Mars filled his face, but he gritted his teeth and endured it, his throat filled with the taste of burning.
The attack was cut off, but the aftershocks grazed the side wall of the passage, carving two deep trenches in the wall, ending just five centimeters from Scott's feet.
"Further... further back!" Scott gasped, grabbing Emma Frost's arm and dragging her into a deeper corner. The two disappeared into the shadows around the corner, leaving only a long drag mark on the ground.
Darren withdrew his hand, glanced down at the energy core still flickering in his palm, and clicked his tongue. "Not bad, it can hold its own."
Ye Mo didn't reply. He tried moving his right leg and found that his calf muscles had started to twitch, probably due to a disordered nerve feedback. He couldn't hear anything in his left ear, most likely because the shockwave had damaged his eardrum. Blood was still dripping from his nose, and one drop landed in the hollow of his collarbone, seeping into the seam of the Steel Bone frame, burning hot.
He raised his hand and wiped his face; his palm was covered in a mixture of ash and blood.
"Your tattered metal suit won't last more than a few seconds." Darren took two steps forward, his boots shattering glass shards on the ground. "You might as well save your energy and just lie down."
Ye Mo grinned, his gums red. "Lie down? I've never dared to slack off like this at work."
After he finished speaking, he suddenly lunged to the side, and his right hand touched a broken piece of steel bar on the ground. It was as long as an arm and had a sharp end. He grabbed it, knelt down on one knee to support himself, and stood up straight again.
Darren frowned. "Who are you trying to scare with a clothesline pole?"
"I'm not trying to scare you," Ye Mo said, catching his breath. "I'm just reminding you—don't forget, we're fighting in a half-collapsed corridor."
As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly swept the steel bar horizontally.
Darren instinctively took a half step back, his suit automatically activating defensive mode, a flash of blue light. But the steel bar wasn't aimed at him at all; instead, it slammed into a twisted and deformed load-bearing beam above his head.
"Clang--!"
A piercing metallic clang rang out, the beam swayed three times, and cracks spread rapidly. Several pieces of concrete fell with a "plop," and dust swirled down.
Darren looked up, his expression changing.
Taking the opportunity, Ye Mo glanced back into the depths of the passage— Scott and Emma Frost had already climbed to the corner fifteen meters away and barely managed to hide in the half-collapsed maintenance room, where the door frame could still block falling rocks.
That's enough.
He looked away and fixed his gaze on Darren again.
"You fucking..." Darren roared, throwing a punch.
The air exploded, and the Shockwave from the fist tore through the alloy layer on Ye Mo's chest. The steel plate shattered, revealing charred circuitry and a mangled chest. He was slammed to his knees, his knees sinking into the rubble with a dull thud.
But he kept going.
One hand gripped the ground so tightly that his nails were split and his fingertips were covered in blood. With the other hand, he used a steel bar to pull himself up, bit by bit.
"Cough..." A mouthful of blood spurted onto the steel bar, trickling down the handle.
Darren stared at him, his eyes looking strange. It wasn't fear, but annoyance. This annoyance stemmed from a familiar sense of powerlessness—like when you were a kid and got into a gang fight, and the other person was knocked down ten times, but each time they could still get up shakily and laugh like a lunatic.
"Aren't you tired?" he asked.
Ye Mo raised his face, a wide grin spreading across his face, blood dripping from his chin. "I'm tired. But there's something I'm even more afraid of."
"What?"
"I'm afraid that if I fall, they'll both be finished too." He paused, his voice so hoarse it was almost inaudible, "So I have to stand. Even if I stand like a telephone pole, I have to stay here."
Darren paused for a second, then suddenly laughed, "Alright, then you can continue playing the hero."
He spread his arms, and the energy core recharged. This time, the light was brighter than before, and the buzzing sound was so loud it hurt people's eardrums.
Ye Mo knew this was a killing move.
He didn't dodge, nor did he raise the steel bar. Instead, he slowly raised his hands, resuming his defensive stance. The Steel Bone System indicated a cooldown countdown: 00:07. He knew he wouldn't last more than seven seconds, but if he could block one more time, Scott could drag Emma Frost to the ventilation shaft entrance—where there was an alternative escape route.
He stared at the increasingly bright light, and images suddenly flashed through his mind: his buddies playing games all night in their college dorm, the half-eaten hamburger on the day he traveled through time, almost getting his waist stuck when he first used the Wall Phasing Technique to enter Stark Labs... and the way Scott squatted on the ground cursing the controller after his training failed, and Emma Frost's tightly furrowed brows when she read his memories.
It turns out I never wanted to "live a peaceful life" again.
"Come on," he whispered.
A particle beam was fired.
He rushed forward, using his mangled body to block all the frontal attacks.
His back armor melted instantly, and the heat penetrated his flesh, burning into his spine. The excruciating pain felt like thousands of red-hot needles piercing his nerves, but he didn't utter a sound. He just gritted his teeth, and his legs sank deep into the ground.
The attack lasted a full three seconds.
Then it abruptly ended.
Darren stopped and took a breath. There was nothing left in front of him. Only a pile of smoking alloy debris and a figure buried in the rubble.
The hand that was exposed was still outstretched, its fingertips twitching slightly, yet it always pointed towards the depths of the passage—the direction where its teammates had retreated.
Darren looked down at his fist, then at the finger, and cursed.
He strode forward, preparing to circle around and give chase.
But just then, there was a soft "click" sound above my head.
Although the sweep didn't immediately cause a collapse, the impact of the steel bars completely destabilized the already loose load-bearing structure. A large section of the ceiling began to slowly tilt, with rubble falling continuously and dust filling the air.
Darren looked up, squinting to judge where the object would land.
The next second, the entire roof collapsed.
With a deafening roar, rubble and steel bars clashed, and dust instantly engulfed the area ahead. Darren was forced to retreat, swinging his arms to block the falling debris, his suit alarms sounding repeatedly.
When the smoke and dust cleared, he looked again—the spot where Ye Mo had stood was now buried under half a broken wall and a pile of rubble. Only that hand was still sticking out, the fingertips pointing in the same direction.
Darren stood still, without moving.
A few seconds later, he snorted and turned to walk towards the other side of the passage, his footsteps crunching on the gravel.
In the dark corner after the collapse, Scott sat against the wall, holding the unconscious Emma Frost in his arms. He looked at the hand sticking out of the rubble in the distance, his lips trembled, but in the end he said nothing. He simply helped Emma Frost up and slowly moved her toward the ventilation shaft.
The wind blew in through the broken pipe opening, stirring up the dust on the ground.
The fingertips of that hand trembled slightly.