Mutant onslaught

Ye Mo's hand still gripped the metal piece, its cool touch pressed against his palm. He stared into the darkness of the maintenance tunnel ahead, his footprints trailing behind, the wet streaks reflecting the light under the emergency lights. Tony stood half a step behind him, his armor still holding up its thrusters, the shoulder nozzles still emitting a slight exhaust.

Just then, it felt like someone had hit me in the head with a hammer.

It wasn't a system notification sound, nor was it pain, but a strange vibration, like an echo from a distant place, that buzzed in his mind. Ye Mo abruptly closed his eyes, his Telepathy to full power, spreading out like a net, sweeping across the entire base.

The signal was too chaotic, the power system was still under repair, and there was a lot of interference. But he caught a glimpse of something unusual—a mental fluctuation, unlike the mechanical copying of Taskmaster, but rather like the rhythm emitted by a group of people at the same time, eerily synchronized.

"No," he opened his eyes, "There's something else."

Tony turned his head. "What?"

"Not at the base." Ye Mo pointed overhead. "In Manhattan."

The words had barely left his lips when Tony's earpiece rang. JARVIS's voice was calm but urgent. "Extreme weather phenomena have occurred simultaneously at three landmarks. Wind speeds in the Statue of Liberty area have exceeded sixty meters per second; Times Square is icy, causing multiple car accidents; and the entrance to Subway B Line is flooded due to a sudden change in air pressure."

The camera switched to a satellite view.

The Statue of Liberty surrounded by a swirling dark cloud, with lightning striking continuously; the glass facade of Times Square shattered like pieces of paper, and pedestrians scattered in panic, covering their heads; water gushed from the subway entrances and flooded the streets, and police cars and fire trucks that had just arrived were blown off course by the strong winds.

"Is this some kind of tornado drill?" Tony growled. "Are they trying to destroy New York?"

"It's not a natural phenomenon." Ye Mo stared at the screen. "Someone is manipulating the weather. Not just one, but a group. I can feel their energy fields, connected like pieces of a puzzle."

Tony immediately activated the armor's combat mode. "Take care of the outside first! The one inside can wait!"

Ye Mo took one last look into the depths of the passage. The footprints continued forward, but it didn't matter anymore. He stuffed the metal plate into his pocket, turned, and walked away. "Let's go."

The two rushed back to the garage, the Iron Man armor automatically deployed, and Ye Mo jumped into the passenger seat. Before he could even fasten his seatbelt, Tony started the engine and lifted off. The engine roared, the armor broke through the roof shield, and soared into the clouds.

Halfway through the flight, the airflow suddenly became violent. The left wing was violently lifted by a surge of hot air, and Tony had to shove the control stick to steady it. Ye Mo clung to the window frame and looked down; the entire city looked like it had been thrown into a blender. The streets were full of people, some running towards the subway, some colliding with each other, and the police were shouting, but no one listened.

"Mutants?" Tony asked while maintaining his flight attitude.

"They call themselves ' New Era Awakened.'" Ye Mo closed his eyes, his Telepathy activating again, cutting through the wind noise, screams, and electrical interference to lock onto several high-intensity energy sources. "They issued a public statement saying they want to 'purify human cities and rebuild Mutants sovereignty.'"

"The same old trick again?" Tony sneered. "Magneto pulled this stunt last time, and now he thinks he's innovating just by changing the packaging?"

"It's different." Ye Mo opened his eyes. "At least Magneto had a plan, these people are just going to smash things up. Look over there." He pointed towards Broadway. "The plaza is frozen solid, the ice is at least ten centimeters thick, and there are several people trapped underneath."

The camera zooms in, revealing a huge frozen lake in the center of Broadway Roundabout. Three citizens are trapped inside, only their upper bodies visible, desperately pounding on the ice. Police cars surround the area, but dare not break the ice rashly for fear of injuring them.

"This isn't an attack, it's intimidation," Ye Mo said. "They're establishing their authority."

Tony gritted his teeth. "Then let them know who truly holds sway."

The armored vehicle adjusted its course and headed straight for Broadway. During the descent, Ye Mo saw three people standing at the edge of the plaza, dressed in uniform gray-black combat suits with a split eye symbol on their chests.

The man on the left raised his hands to the sky, lightning flashing from his fingertips, and the dark clouds in the sky churned with his movements; the one in the middle stood in the eye of the storm, not even moving a inch, clearly the source of the wind; the one on the right was the most terrifying, his skin turned into a rock-like substance, and he pulled a stone pillar directly from the ground with his right hand and smashed it against the outer wall of the police station.

"Three main forces," Ye Mo quickly analyzed. "The one who controls electricity is responsible for creating chaos, the one who controls wind is the core damage dealer, and the one who controls rock is the melee disruptor. They coordinate quite well."

"Guess which one is the boss?" Tony asked.

"The one who controls the wind," Ye Mo affirmed, "Has the most stable energy field; everyone else follows his rhythm. If you interrupt him, the entire chain breaks."

"Then you go and dismantle the chains, I'll take care of clearing the area." Tony's thrusters were fully engaged, and his armor swooped down. At thirty meters above the ground, he activated an electromagnetic pulse. A circle of blue light swept across, and all nearby electronic devices instantly went black.

Police walkie-talkies, mobile phones, and streetlights were all turned off.

But the three Mutants remained completely still.

"Looks like it's unaffected." Tony grinned. "Let's go for it."

The armor descended rapidly, suddenly hovering five meters above the ground. Tony slammed his fist into the ground, the shockwave scattering surrounding debris and forcing the Rock Man back two steps.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Ye Mo jumped down, but his left foot slipped upon landing, almost causing him to fall on the ice. He cursed and quickly activated the Gene Spiral Tower pre-load module. In his mind, the tenth-level tower plate slowly rotated, and several ability paths lit up: Ice Manipulation, Telepathy, and Thermal Vision.

He didn't have time to combine new skills, so he could only use what he already had.

He scanned the frozen lake Telepathy, confirming that the trapped personnel had normal heartbeats and were not in immediate danger. He then turned to the wind controller in the eye of the storm, who was looking up at the armor with a smirk.

Right now.

Ye Mo pressed his hands to the ground, and the cold air spread rapidly along the ice surface. Centered on him, the ice layer began to thicken, the cracks repaired themselves, and the ice beneath the trapped citizens' feet slowly thinned until they were able to climb out on their own.

"You're quite compassionate," Tony said over the radio. "Unfortunately, the enemy isn't buying it."

Before he could finish speaking, a bolt of lightning struck down from the sky, hitting the back of the armor. Tony was knocked to his knees, and white smoke billowed from the armor.

"Damn it!" he roared, "You dare to ambush me?"

Looking up, the person controlling the electricity spread out his arms, and eight bolts of lightning simultaneously formed around him, falling in a fan shape.

Tony scrambled into the air, barely dodging four streaks; another four grazed the fuselage, and his left arm thruster malfunctioned. He forced himself to stabilize the aircraft and activated the weapons system: "You're finished."

Meanwhile, Ye Mo had already approached the eye of the storm. The wind was getting stronger and stronger, making it almost impossible for him to stand. He squinted at the wind controller, who was also looking at him with a cold gaze.

"You have no right to decide the fate of this city," Ye Mo said loudly.

"We're not making decisions," the man said, his voice like wind whistling through sheet metal. "We're carrying them out."

As soon as he finished speaking, the wind pressure suddenly increased, and Ye Mo felt a tightness in his chest. He was thrown back and crashed into a police car. The car window shattered, and the siren went off.

He pushed himself up, the taste of blood in his mouth. The Gene Spiral Tower issued a cooling warning, its Ice Manipulation Ability temporarily locked.

"No, I need to try something different." He wiped his mouth and looked at his shadow.

If we combine Thermal Vision with Telepathy, could we predict his next move?

He closed his eyes and focused his mental energy. The world turned into black and white outlines, and the movement of the wind was clearly visible. The wind controller's movements were rhythmic; with each raise of his hand, the airflow would gather half a second in advance.

Yes.

Ye Mo suddenly rushed to the left, deliberately creating an opening. The Wind Controller indeed waved his hand, and a wind blade slashed towards the spot where he had just been.

But Ye Mo had already dodged, using the wind to accelerate and instantly closing in on his opponent.

"You forgot." He raised his right hand, a high-pressure ice crystal forming in his palm. "I'm not fighting alone."

Tony's armor swooped down from the sky, and a miniature missile accurately struck the Controller in the chest, the blast wave knocking him to the ground. Just as the Rock Man was about to rush over, a beam of laser pinned his right leg, rendering him unable to move.

Only two people remained facing off at the eye of the storm.

"My turn." Ye Mo raised the ice crystal and aimed it at the other person's throat.