"It's laughable. You really think this will trap me?"
The Sanctuary sneered, black energy crawling over his body like living smoke. The webbing around him fizzled and fell away, dissolving into ash before it could tighten. His cold eyes flicked toward Gwen—and a cruel thought lit up behind them.
"She's important to you, huh, Ryuuto?" he muttered, grinning. "Then I'll start with her."
He called out, voice booming across the ruined hall. "Alchemist! Stop gawking and help me out here! We'll take the girl first—then her little boyfriend won't be so cocky!"
The bespectacled Alchemist froze. "Khan! I'm not the fighting type!" He pushed his glasses up, voice trembling. "Battles like this… people lose their heads if they're not careful!"
"Don't be a coward!" the Sanctuary snapped. "Just support me from the side. Catch Spider-Woman, and we'll be heroes!"
At that moment, rubble shifted nearby. Quicksilver stood, brushing dust from his silver hair, and let out a breath when he realized Ryuuto hadn't killed anyone. He clapped the Alchemist's shoulder, voice dripping with overconfidence.
"Relax. I'll keep you safe. Besides, Magneto's gonna love your talent when we bring you back to the Brotherhood."
The Alchemist's eyes lit up at the name. "In that case…" He puffed up his chest dramatically. "Allow me to demonstrate true alchemy!"
He picked up a broken broom from the ground, grinning like he'd just found Excalibur. Energy shimmered across his palms—and the broomstick turned to gleaming gold in an instant.
"Spider-Woman! Let's see you handle this!"
He hurled it like a javelin. Gwen rolled her eyes. "Seriously? A golden broomstick?"
Her web shot out like a whip, snagging the weapon midair. She yanked it around and flung it back at the Sanctuary's head.
But the Alchemist only laughed. "Fool! Everything you touch turns to gold!"
He snapped his fingers—and Gwen's web solidified into rigid metal. The threads stiffened instantly, useless for swinging or dodging.
"Good job!" the Sanctuary barked, lunging forward with bloodlust. "Let's finish her off!"
The momentum had flipped hard. Gwen stumbled, her web useless, and the Sanctuary's black aura swelled like a living shadow.
"Quicksilver!" called Ariel, who'd been tracing sigils in the corner. "I've finished setting up the teleport gate! We can extract three people at once!" She wiped her forehead, nervous. "Shouldn't we leave before things get messy?"
"Relax." Quicksilver dropped into the last intact chair and cracked open a bag of sunflower seeds. "Let's enjoy the show. That punk's luck has to run out sometime."
Then, as if fate heard him and decided to mess with him—
"Mist Style: Hidden Fog Jutsu!"
A thick, rolling mist swallowed the entire battlefield. Erica, Gambit, and Arclight froze, spinning in confusion. The room became a blur of motion and panic.
Then came the impacts.
"Bam!" Erica dropped first, clutching her stomach. Arclight followed, collapsing beside her with a groan.
Gambit barely had time to turn before Ryuuto's foot smashed into his face. His nose exploded in blood, cards scattering uselessly across the floor.
Before the fog could even thin, Ryuuto vanished from their sight and reappeared beside Gwen in a crackle of speed.
"Don't worry," he said quietly, his voice steady and sharp. "I'll handle them."
Gwen's tension melted away at once. "Right."
"What the hell—how did he—" The Sanctuary's voice broke mid-sentence. His limbs locked up, muscles twitching like puppets on invisible strings.
Ryuuto's eyes were glowing red.
"You can't move?" He tilted his head, a cold smile curving his lips. "Good. That'll make this quick."
He formed the seals faster than anyone could blink. The air around the Sanctuary shimmered, folding in on itself.
"Dust Release—World Stripping Technique."
The barrier ignited in white light.
"Go ahead," Ryuuto said softly. "Try to breathe through that."
And the world turned to dust.