A Furious Counterattack, Armor Heating Up
All three knew that whoever could withstand the next blow would survive.
The golden light in the Yellowjacket's palm grew brighter and brighter, and the heat wave began to distort the air, like the shaking of an old television screen with a poor signal. Ye Mo tapped the edge of the control panel twice with his fingers, a signal to retreat. Emma Frost received the order but did not retreat immediately. Instead, she took a sudden half-step forward, forcing the Yellowjacket to release his energy prematurely.
"Boom!"
A surge of crimson heat erupted, grazing Emma Frost's shoulder and striking the load-bearing wall behind her. The wall instantly glowed red, molten metal dripped down, and a burnt smell filled the air. She was thrown back by the heat wave, her knees slamming heavily onto the ground as she landed, a new crack appearing on the crystal surface with a "crack".
"Scott!" Ye Mo roared.
Scott had already activated the scaling process, automatically thickening the heat insulation layer of his suit. He moved quickly close to the ground, taking advantage of a gap in the heat dissipation to throw the last EMP jammer on his body at a still-functioning vent on the Yellowjacket's back. The device successfully attached, but only flashed a red light once before being burned out by the high temperature.
"No! It's too hot!" Scott rolled away from the second wave of heat, leaning against a cooling pipe and panting heavily. His suit alarm beeped. "Overheating, evacuation recommended."
Ye Mo gritted his teeth, his gaze sweeping over the remaining interface on the control panel. Thermal imaging showed that the surface temperature of the Yellowjacket's armor had exceeded 600 degrees Celsius, and the internal core was approaching the critical point. This was not normal overload; the armor was self-destructively heating up.
"System," he murmured to himself, "Does it have any fragments related to heat resistance?"
A familiar notification sounded in my mind: ["Magma Walker" gene fragment detected (sealed in layer 19), requires combination activation, current conditions insufficient.]
"Damn it," Ye Mo cursed under his breath.
He looked up and saw Emma Frost standing ten meters in front of him, her body emitting a faint orange glow, a sign that the Diamond Form was about to collapse. The cracks on her left arm had extended to her shoulder blade, and with each breath, the crystal emitted a faint cracking sound.
But she didn't move.
The Yellowjacket's armored arms reactivated due to the high temperature, emitting a low hum. He walked forward step by step, leaving charred footprints on the ground with each step. The air was distorted by the heat, and the outer shell of the equipment in the distance began to soften and deform.
"You think... we've won?" he asked hoarsely. "I just... haven't been serious yet."
Ye Mo slammed a button on the control panel, and a large amount of low-temperature gas suddenly spewed out from the vent on the east side of the laboratory. This was the last cooling reserve, which could only last for thirty seconds. The white mist instantly spread out, rapidly evaporating in the high temperature, forming a temporary visual barrier.
"Scott, right-hand pipe, three o'clock!" Ye Mo shouted.
Scott acted immediately, shrinking his size and using the fog as cover to get close to the Yellowjacket's flank. He saw a crack in the warrior's right shoulder, caused by Emma Frost's earlier heavy blow, but now half of it had been welded shut by the high temperature.
"No time!" Scott shouted into the communicator.
Ye Mo stared at the screen, his finger drawing a simple circuit diagram on the panel, then he gestured "short circuit". Scott paused for a second, then immediately understood—if he could insert the miniature capacitor from Ant-Man Suit into the crack, it might cause a partial short circuit.
But he needs cover.
Emma Frost took a deep breath and took two more steps forward, braving the heat.
"Darren Cross," she said calmly, "You're not getting out of here."
The Yellowjacket paused, a flicker of emotion crossing his eyes.
Now!
Emma Frost suddenly raised her hand and used all her strength to slam a mental shockwave at her opponent. It wasn't mind reading or control, but a pure mental intimidation—to force him to lose focus.
The Yellowjacket felt dizzy and his movements faltered for less than half a second.
Scott seized the opportunity, instantly shrinking to the nanometer scale and drilling into the armor through the crack.
Ye Mo held his breath.
Emma Frost's body had begun to turn a dark red, a sign that her internal temperature was approaching its limit. She stood there, her legs trembling slightly, but she did not take a single step back.
The Yellowjacket shook his head, roared, spread his arms, and his entire armor began to emit a blinding red light.
The entire laboratory felt like it had been crammed into a steel furnace.