Each step landed like a hammer blow on the chests of the mutants.
Several employees of Mason Industries approached with eerily stiff movements, their faces devoid of any emotion. Their eyes, unblinking, fixed themselves on the mutants like predators sizing up their prey.
A chill ran down the spine of John Hudson, the leader of the mutant reconnaissance team. Something was off. These weren't normal people.
"What are you guys doing here?" one of the mutants asked, unable to suppress his unease.
The moment the words left his mouth, he regretted it.
Hadn't he just exposed them?
But the Mason Industries employees seemed unaffected, as if they hadn't even heard him. They continued walking forward, their rigid expressions unchanged, their footsteps perfectly synchronized.
Finally, they stopped in front of the mutants.
"Targets confirmed. Total count: thirteen. Initiating protocol."
One of them spoke, his voice an unnatural rasp, as if it had crawled straight out of the depths of hell.
John's blood ran cold.
That was the exact number of their team. How did Mason Industries know?
Just as the thought formed in his mind, chaos erupted.
A fist shot out like lightning, slamming into a mutant's abdomen.
The mutant instantly doubled over, vomiting violently before collapsing unconscious.
The others froze in horror.
That guy—the one who just went down—was their strongest in terms of raw power. He could punch through five-centimeter-thick steel plates like paper, and his endurance was second to none.
Yet, with a single blow, he was down.
"We're exposed! Fall back, now!"
A mutant shouted, his voice breaking the night's eerie silence.
Another frantically attempted to contact the X-Men, his fingers flying across his communicator.
His face twisted in frustration. "Comms are down!"
"Susan, use your powers to break the electromagnetic interference!" another urged.
Susan activated her mutant ability, trying to tear through the electromagnetic field surrounding Mason Tower. Energy crackled around her hands as she reached into the unseen frequencies, attempting to disrupt whatever was blocking their signals.
A sharp, needle-like pain stabbed through her brain. She screamed and staggered backward, her face turning deathly pale.
"Their tech… it's too strong. I can't break through!" her voice trembled.
"Damn it! Then we fight our way out!" John snapped, his instincts screaming at him that they had walked into a trap.
The mutants had no choice. They unleashed their abilities, knowing that Mason Industries wasn't planning to let them go.
A mutant, using his superhuman speed, lunged at one of the employees, a dagger flashing in his grip.
The blade struck—but instead of cutting flesh, it bounced off with a sharp metallic sound.
The mutant barely had time to react before his wrist was caught in an iron grip.
Pain exploded in his arm as a sickening crunch echoed in the air.
"Aaaaargh! What the hell?!"
His scream was raw with agony.
His eyes darted to where he had struck the employee.
Instead, beneath the torn uniform, gleamed a silver-white metallic skeleton.
"What… what the hell is this thing?!"
That was his last thought before darkness swallowed him.
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