Mindstorm

Emma’s expression shifted slightly at his words, a sharp glint flashing through her eyes as she looked at Shaw before vanishing in an instant. She took a deep breath, then turned to Alex and said in a low voice, "All right!"

At that moment, Logan and Natasha had met up in the bar, both wearing disappointed expressions.

"Where’s Alex?" Natasha turned toward the dance floor but did not spot Alex. He was tall and had black hair, so he should have been easy to pick out in a crowd.

Logan looked over as well and failed to find Alex. A thought struck him, and he suddenly said, "Could he have run into Shaw?"

"Come on, we need to help him!" The moment Logan finished speaking, Natasha dashed off.

Logan shook his head gloomily, took the cigar from his mouth, and ran after Natasha. As he ran, he shouted, "You don’t even know where Alex is. How are you going to help?"

"We’ll find him!" Natasha did not slow down, weaving through the crowded dance floor like a fish through water.

Compared to Natasha’s graceful ease, Logan’s approach was far more direct. Anyone blocking his path was shoved aside. No one could stop him; it was brutally forceful. Faced with the burly Logan, no one dared provoke him and simply let him pass.

In the backstage room, Emma stopped once again. Her pretty face had gone slightly pale, and fine beads of sweat had formed on her smooth forehead.

"Did you find anything?" Shaw stepped forward impatiently, his large hands tightly gripping Emma’s arms, his face full of anxiety.

Emma panted a few times, then shook her head and explained helplessly, "His mind is far too strong. I can only sense a few insignificant memories. The moment it involves anything secret, his mind just…"

"No matter what method you use, you must find the Tesseract!" Shaw cut her off with a harsh shout, unconsciously tightening his grip.

Emma cried out in pain and struggled to pull her hand free. Unfortunately, her strength was no match for Shaw, who had been enhanced by energy. No matter how she struggled, she could not move him in the slightest.

"Find the Tesseract…" Shaw’s expression grew increasingly vicious, his eyes filled with murderous intent. "Otherwise, I’ll send all of you to hell together!"

Just then, the tightly shut door was pushed open.

"So you really were here!" With a cigar clenched between his teeth, Logan leaned casually against the doorframe. Looking at the slightly stunned people in the room, he said with an easy grin, "Alex, why didn’t you let us know? Were you planning to deal with them alone?"

Upon seeing Logan, Shaw turned toward Red Devil and Riptide beside him and was about to speak when Emma’s expression abruptly changed. She warned, "Careful, they brought quite a few people." After a slight pause, she added, "Nine people. They’ve surrounded the bar."

"The entire Howling Commandos team is here?" Shaw was briefly stunned, then sneered. "Since they’re all here, we’ll wipe you out in one stroke today!"

As he spoke, Shaw looked back at Red Devil and Riptide. The two exchanged a glance and moved at the same time with perfect coordination. One charged at Logan, while the other vanished directly from the room, presumably to find the others.

Logan paid no attention to Riptide rushing at him. His eyes remained fixed on Alex. The moment he had entered, he had noticed that something seemed wrong with Alex. His earlier words had been a test, and now Logan was certain that Alex was in trouble.

Without a second thought, Logan extended two Bone Claws and charged forward. He had to get Alex out. At the same time, Natasha, who had quietly slipped in to launch a sneak attack, also noticed Alex’s abnormal state. No longer caring about the ambush, she headed straight for Alex.

Shaw reacted quickly. The instant the two moved, he stepped in front of Alex first and met Logan head-on. Several other mutants immediately surrounded them, tangling with Logan and Natasha in battle.

Under the combined assault of several mutants, Logan and Natasha were soon in grave danger. After only a few exchanges, they were forced into a corner, with defeat seemingly inevitable. Just then, Quicksilver, Namor, and Human Torch rushed in from outside almost simultaneously, instantly turning the tide.

Seeing the three of them appear, Natasha waved a hand and knocked back Tin Man, whose entire body was as hard as iron. She then turned to Quicksilver, who was about to join the fight, and urgently said, "Quicksilver, take Alex and go."

Quicksilver was slightly surprised. Turning his head, he saw Alex standing blankly beside a scantily clad woman. "What happened to Alex?"

"Don’t ask questions. Just do it!" Nick Fury charged in from outside like a god of war, sweeping his heavy machine gun everywhere without distinguishing friend from foe.

Quicksilver nodded and was about to rush toward Alex when his entire body suddenly froze. He could not move at all, and he cried out in alarm, "What’s going on? Why can’t I move!!!"

This was naturally Emma’s work. She had noticed Quicksilver’s intentions and frozen his consciousness.

Just as Emma was secretly pleased with herself, Shaw beside her flew into a rage. Pointing at the still vacant-eyed Alex, he harshly berated her, "Don’t bother with these minor characters! Keep an eye on him and find the Tesseract!"

Emma glanced resentfully at Quicksilver, released her control over him, and focused on sensing Alex.

But at that moment, Emma suddenly discovered that Alex’s mind had begun to fluctuate violently. The once calm flame of his mind abruptly became frenzied, like a storm of fire shaking with such violent force that it seemed capable of destroying everything. Even her own mind felt as if it were about to collapse.

"Not good!" Emma’s face changed drastically. She was afraid. She no longer dared to probe Alex’s mind and wanted to retreat. But to her even greater horror, the violent Mindstorm had swept her mind into it. It was already too late to escape.

"Run!" Emma only managed to utter one word before Alex dragged her into boundless fury.

Emma’s voice was not quiet, and everyone heard it. Yet no one ran, because they had no idea what was about to happen, so they all chose to deal with the opponents before them.

Having lived two lives, Alex’s mind was incomparably powerful. Later, it had been strengthened by the Tesseract, making it even more terrifying. Yet Alex had always used his mind mainly for Teleportation and had never truly displayed its power. Now, the Mindstorm triggered by Emma’s telepathy revealed its might.

In an instant, all of Las Vegas seemed frozen in time. Space and time came to a halt at that moment, leaving only the incomparably violent Mindstorm raging everywhere.

It seemed like an instant, yet also like a century had passed. Las Vegas came alive again, and everyone continued doing what they had been doing, as though nothing had happened.

In reality, some people had lost a portion of their memories, some had lost certain abilities, and some had even lost their lives.

And two people had disappeared.

Author’s note: Scorpion ran into some **trouble. He lost his ID card and spent the whole night looking for it and worrying about it, so he was completely out of sorts. He barely managed to update one chapter. Sorry, he’ll make it up tomorrow. (Hopefully he can find his ID card tomorrow…)