"Damn it—what the hell did you do to me?!"
The psychic mutant known as Brainstar staggered back, pupils dilating as his own powers faltered. A cold pressure crushed around him, choking his telepathic field like it was being devoured from the inside out.
Ryuuto smiled—a slow, wolfish grin. "Nothing much. Just left you a little present, hehe."
"You—bastard!" Brainstar's voice cracked in panic, then roared into fury. "Fine! Laozi fights you to the end!"
Energy crackled around him as he fired a barrage of psychic beams, each one powerful enough to vaporize steel. The air itself howled with the impact.
"You're still not qualified."
Sand whirled around Ryuuto's body, forming a dense barrier that swallowed the explosion whole. When the smoke cleared, he stood untouched.
"Sand Burial!"
He clenched his fist. A massive surge of sand erupted beneath Brainstar, trapping him from the neck down before collapsing like a thousand daggers of grit.
"Boom!"
The blast swallowed Brainstar's screams. For a heartbeat, it looked like he'd been obliterated.
Then came a cough. "Cough—cough! Damn sand! You're trying to choke me to death!"
He was still alive—barely. And Ryuuto's smirk vanished as a familiar sneer echoed through the smoke.
"Couldn't let you have all the fun, kid."
Loki.
The trickster god appeared behind Brainstar, energy swirling in his palms. His magic detonated midair, shattering Ryuuto's sand storm and pulling the telepath out of certain death.
"Cable! Now!" Loki barked. "The idiot took the bait!"
A silver blur tore across the field—Cable, eyes glowing cold blue, massive rifle humming with tech energy.
"Boy, you embarrassed me in front of the others," he snarled. "You're dead."
Brainstar roared, forcing his battered body upright. "Let's see you laugh now, freak!"
Their combined energy shook the street.
Ryuuto cracked his neck, unimpressed. "Three-on-one? Cute. You should've brought snacks, at least."
Before they could attack, a booming voice cut in.
"Three-on-one? Not happening."
Banner and Tony Stark dropped from the sky like a meteor strike—one in full Hulk form, the other in red-and-gold armor blazing with repulsor light.
"You clowns picked the wrong neighborhood," Tony said, aiming his palm cannons. "Stay in New York—permanently."
"Take me a shot first!" Cable shouted. His rifle flared with light—
—and a crimson beam lanced toward Ryuuto.
Too fast for most to even see.
But Ryuuto was already forming seals. "So impatient to kill me? How flattering."
"Earth Style: Rock Wall!"
Stone exploded from the asphalt, absorbing the laser head-on. The shockwave sent Brainstar staggering backward, eyes wide with disbelief.
Ryuuto didn't wait. His hands blurred again—
"Earth Style: Flowing Mud River!"
The ground split open with a deafening roar. A tidal wave of dark earth surged upward, devouring everything in its path—Cable, Brainstar, even Loki's illusions.
"Damn it!" Loki cursed, taking to the sky on a burst of green energy. "You two handle the brat! I'll deal with Iron Man and the Hulk!"
The other two didn't get the chance to reply. The mudslide swallowed them whole, dragging them into chaos.
"Big talk for a guy who's about to be a pancake," Tony quipped, blasting after Loki.
"Smash," Hulk grunted, following with a ground-cracking leap.
The street became a battlefield of gods and monsters.
Then Cable burst free of the collapsing sludge, covered in dirt and fury. "Enough games!"
Electric arcs surged around his body, blue lightning crawling over his cybernetic arm. The rifle hummed like a storm about to break.
"Let's see your real power, Captain X-Men!" he taunted, firing a volley of electro-rounds.
Ryuuto didn't move an inch.
"Wind Style: Vacuum Bullets!"
He flicked his wrists—dozens of compressed air rounds collided midair with Cable's lightning shells. The street erupted into shockwaves, store windows shattering for blocks.
"You like playing with voltage?" Ryuuto said, stepping through the dust. His grin sharpened. "Then try this on."
Lightning chakra flared to life, wrapping around his hand like a storm condensed to a single blade.
"Lightning Style: Raikiri!"
He vanished from sight—reappearing behind Cable in an instant.
"Too slow."
The crackling blade plunged toward Cable's armor.
Cable roared, spinning and slamming his cybernetic arm into Ryuuto's strike.
Metal met lightning. For a heartbeat, the world froze—then detonated in light and thunder.
The shockwave sent both of them skidding backward, leaving molten trails in the asphalt.
Ryuuto straightened, smoke rising from his sleeve. "Still alive, huh? Guess this'll be fun after all."
Cable grinned through the pain. "You talk too much."
"Maybe," Ryuuto said. "But you'll be too dead to complain soon."
The street began to tremble again—the next round of hell about to begin.
...
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