On the planet rich in compound five, in the huge sinkhole that was still being annihilated by the power of the phoenix, Mason stood in the dark flames of the phoenix, and glanced at his hand.

The body, which had been flickering like a lack of energy since just now, was regaining its stability, and the most dangerous part of the vicious time attack had passed.

It was apparently the Speedsters who had protected him on the battlefield in the past, leaving Kang the Conqueror to futility in his fateful surprise attack on him.

Another death trap set by Old A has been solved, and the solidity of the past is like shaping the foundation of the building, and the strong and silent support of the captain at this moment to advance his story to the end.

Before his eyes, Madeleine's burning shell was still firmly bound.

The chaotic light reflected in the dancing eyes of the fire, and with the help of the brainwave booster repeater inside the Cosmic Main Power Armor, the White Queen Emma had entered Madeleine's chaotic mind at this time.

This is not good news.

Because after losing Madeleine's will to dominate, the power of Dark Phoenix Chaos is no longer controlled, and it is gradually controlling this body that fits perfectly with it and trying to pull Madeleine out of the entangled network compiled by the psychic power, so as to complete the final arrival of Dark Phoenix in this world.

"Emma, hurry up."

Mason glanced at the declining shield value of the MAX-level energy matrix that the main processor of the Heart of the Star Emperor had applied to the Cosmic Main Power Armor, estimated the consumption time, and urged.

"I've found her!"

The White Queen responded:

"The flow of time in the spiritual world is much slower than in the outside world, and this family conflict that has plagued you for a long time should be resolved today, and I will help you solve it, son."

"I think you're thinking of a rather dangerous plan right now, but whatever you want, I'll continue to suppress the Dark Phoenix, but after three minutes you'll have to reclaim your consciousness.

Its energy level had risen to the point where it was impossible to be stopped, enough to tear the world apart and send Ciri and me to safety.

Old A's trap is over! ”

Mason reminded him, and the Dark Phoenix, which was tied up in his hands in front of him, seemed to have a premonition of the danger of being used.

She struck a more resolute and frantic offensive in her rage, the dark phoenix fire transforming into swirling dark points of light, energy that entered an ionic state, each drop enough to wipe out a city.

In the near-zero distance bombardment, Mason was smashed all of them, and his offensive caused the load of the Star Emperor's Heart processor installed in the power unit to rise even more, and even the core fire beat more violently.

The ghostly Wild Phoenix also seemed to have foreseen that the tragic life of the Dark Phoenix was coming to an end, and after forcing the cunning gods back in the outer battle, a flame turned back and rushed into the earth-destroying annihilation field, hiding in Mason's power armor protection matrix in a rather chicken thief posture, and as close as possible to Madeleine, it continued to devour the flames that were constantly burning on her body.

This kind of justifiable opportunity to add a meal is rare, although it is already very supportive, but if you don't hurry up and eat a little more, I'm afraid there will be no chance in the future.

"Ciri, get Gollum ready."

Mason reminded the Hunter in the disruptive communication, and Ciri, in a surprised echo of the fierce battle, asked:

"What are you going to do? Throw her next to Madeleine? This level of material annihilation would melt Gollum in an instant! Kryptonians can't stand that kind of environment. ”

"Nope."

The captain opened the storage compartment of the Cosmic Main Power Armor, clasped something in his hand, stared at the chaotic burning eyes in front of him, and reached out to clasp the black phoenix's chin.

As the latter opened his mouth to spew out annihilating flames, he shoved the object in his hand into her mouth and forced her to swallow it.

He corrected:

"I mean, getting Gollum ready to say goodbye to her friends is a little more ceremonial even for her life as an empress, right?"

——

"I've imagined what the Dark Phoenix's mental world is like, but this one in front of me is a bit too exaggerated, right?"

The White Queen frowned as soon as she entered Madeleine's mind, and Emma looked up at the burning world in front of her as her enhanced psychic power appeared.

In the reflection of the flames in the sky, you can vaguely see the image of another world rushing in.

The whole picture of a neighborhood should have appeared, but it had been reduced to a bleak ruin in the blazing apocalypse, and only a white house remained intact in front of it.

"She's hiding inside."

Emma moved her fingers and whispered:

"The power of the Dark Phoenix acts on both matter and consciousness, destroying the outside world as well as her sanity, the only fragment of her memory that is still intact, and it is a moment of great significance to her.

I guess it's the image of Madeleine being destroyed by the impact of the foster world.

The child's life also took a fork in the road at this time, one day she was a carefree little girl, and the next day she would be sent into a utopia to meet the darkest moment of her life.

This is her fate node.

Like the night in Gotham City when my Mason was hit by that damn bottle, he would always tell me this bad story. ”

Emma, dressed in the classic White Queen's suit, walked forward, leaving Madeleine's last sane hideout without much obstructive power, and when she pushed the door open, she could see the panoramic view of the house.

The simple, everyday but warm interior is in stark contrast to the outside world, as if two very different destinies have been shaped by a wall.

She locked herself up here as if she had built herself a "doomsday shelter".

"Madeleine? Are you there? ”

Emma called.

Then the door was pushed open, and the pale red queen appeared in front of her, not as fierce and chaotic as the outside world, but the glint in her eyes meant that she had guessed her end.

"Mason, let her listen."

The White Queen called, and the captain of the outside world reached out and flicked it beside him, turned on the playback device of the main power armor of the outer universe, and played the words spoken by the fortress before and passed them into Madeleine's heart, without any embellishment, the Supreme Beast's desperate plan before death and Doom's arrangement for Madeleine were clearly explained.

But the Red Queen's expression didn't change much.

She's not an idiot.

In fact, when she absorbed four Phoenix Fragments and confronted the Supreme Professor, she already knew that she would not be able to escape the cruel future of becoming a Dark Phoenix.

"Put Gollum away! I've come this far because of her, my only friend."

She didn't hide anything, and tried to maintain the last decency and calmness to say to Emma in front of her:

"If your son hadn't messed with it that day, I'd already be buried with Utopia, the elixir has the cradle plan of Utopia in mind, and I'm a mind-manipulating mutant.

I already knew the truth when I killed him.

I was going to die there!

In the name of revenge, I and the professor will die, knowing that my people will eventually be free, and I will no longer have any worries about the future.

Mason, he shouldn't have interfered. ”

"That's not just my son, that's your brother too, and besides, if that's your full plan for revenge, that's stupid! How could I have given birth to such a stupid daughter as you? ”

The White Queen shook her head and said:

"It's you yourself who pushed yourself to this point after a series of bad decisions, Mason didn't do anything wrong in this matter, and I guess you regretted it when Compound Five was injected into your body.

It never takes strength to fight the power of the phoenix, but when your brother tried to help you at my unreasonable request, you turned to the wrong person for help.

But. I'm not here to argue with you about this. ”

Emma looked at Madeleine.

This is the first time she has really seen this girl who also has her own genes in her body, and drawing on Mason's relationship with her, then there is no doubt that Madeleine in front of her is her daughter.

"Your best friend Gollum is out there, Mason brought her here, and the only request she chooses to serve your brother is to save you.

You're lucky in that regard.

Your life may be bleak, but your friendship is real.

I'm here to help you, and your brother is willing to give you one last chance, and I can back up your consciousness remotely to the brainwave booster.

Provided you do so voluntarily. ”

The White Queen looked at the pale girl in front of her, she stepped forward and said:

"That's where you lost your parents, right?"

"I tried my best to save them, to save the community I grew up in, but I couldn't, and my power awakened under the pressure of the apocalypse.

But that's not a power that can turn everything around. ”

Madeleine had no ill will towards Emma, she knew the relationship between the woman in front of her and her.

But when Mason first met Emma, the genetic or blood ties alone weren't enough to make the two masked men relatives or start a family.

She looked around the room with mixed feelings, and said to Emma in the place where memories were forged:

"This is the end of the light and the beginning of the darkness, and after having the power of the phoenix, I wanted to send myself back here, to leave behind the only good things that have disappeared from my short and bad life.

But I can't.

I can't hide myself in my memories as a coward, and after they sent me to the first sequence of the Conquerors, my compatriots who had the same fate as me needed me even more.

They need a chieftain.

They chose me.

I tried my best to hope that my tragedy would not happen to my fellow citizens.

But sadly, I didn't have Mason's wisdom and his luck, and I couldn't have made those wonderful plans, nor did I have a way to fight those bad intentions, and I didn't have an ideal that was so grand that I wanted to turn the Dark Ages around.

I'll admit I'm a loser.

Whether it's as a leader, or as a friend, or even as a good person, I've failed in these attempts.

I really wanted him to stand beside me, the proud son Mason, and I could see in your eyes that he was the perfect heir.

After learning his story and his experiences, I knew that Mason was the man my fellow citizens needed. ”

Stripping away all external identity here, Madeleine returned to her pure self and no longer denied her mistakes, perhaps because Mason's absence allowed her to be more honest.

She turned her head to look at Emma and said in a dumb voice:

"When I first met him, I said it was true. I didn't have any friends other than Gollum other than the mind control part, and it was difficult for me to learn to express kindness properly in the environment I grew up in.

I'm sorry I tried to kill your son, but I always had a hard time controlling my emotions when the power of the phoenix was in effect.

But I think there's no point in talking about it now, my story is coming to an end and Mason has chosen an ending for me.

I have no choice but to accept.

I thank you for your kindness.

Even after I hurt your family, you are still willing to help me.

However, it is no longer necessary.

The addition of Compound Five has further integrated the power of the Phoenix with mine, and the abode you see is my last sanity, and it has been locked by the Dark Phoenix.

I can't escape.

It won't let me go, it needs a host to be able to exert its full destructive power.

If you want to help me, kill me. ”

This silence caused Emma to be silent for a moment, and she spoke:

"I thought it would be hard to convince you, but I didn't expect you to know everything. The real you are really sane and sober, and if you and your brother were so honest when they first met, then things might not have come this far.

But there's one thing you're wrong about.

You're not without friends other than Gollum, and even though the Sequence 1 mutants didn't talk to Mason ahead of time, I guessed what they were thinking.

At this very moment, they are fighting in hell.

The elite seem to be coming together for a great goal called the future, but with the decisiveness of their actions, they also want to ask Mason to spare you with this kind of dedication.

Madeleine, you are doing quite well in the position of leader, because your protection and leadership of them make them willing to obey you and be willing to sacrifice to save you.

They remember you and still call you commander-in-chief.

What you have done for your people will not be forgotten.

And even putting Mason in your place doesn't necessarily do a better job than you do, and that collective hatred doesn't just dilute and give up just because one or two people do.

Professor Supreme's last-minute choices prove that he also knows that only the fall of utopia can ease past hatreds.

You didn't do anything wrong in this matter.

Your only mistake is that you should trust your family more, who has been trying to get close to you, and you have been stubbornly pushing him away, perhaps because he has not been able to save you when you need it the most, as if you were saving others.

But you yourself know that it wasn't his fault. ”

She stepped forward, and as she approached Madeleine, she could feel the heart-burning power coming from this will, the erosion of the Dark Phoenix, but Emma didn't back down.

Under Madeleine's hesitant gaze, she reached out and took the girl's cold hand, and said:

"It was our first meeting and the last.

I don't want Mason to finish your execution with his own hands, that would have irreparable effects on his sentimental heart, like a knife into the heart, which shouldn't exist between family members.

I will help you put an end to this loneliness, my daughter, and let you die as Madeleine Pryor, but perhaps before you leave, you should see your friends again.

Sorry, kid.

I wasn't able to be there for you when you needed it most.

But I promise I'll stay with you until the end, you did a lot of things wrong, but maybe in the last moments, you can tell him what you want to tell Mason personally.

Go ahead, at this time, you don't have to hide your vulnerability anymore, he won't laugh at you.

Go ahead, I'll be here to protect your 'refuge' and wait for you to come back. ”

Emma's words silenced Madeleine for a few seconds, then she sighed and said to the lady in front of her:

"Thank you, Emma, for being a good person."

"I'm not, at least not until I met Mason."

Emma smiled, endured the Dark Phoenix's burn, and reached out to touch Madeleine's hair.

She kissed her daughter on the forehead, then reached out and pushed, forcibly tearing apart the power restraints of the dark phoenix in the psychic power burst of the brainwave booster, allowing Madeleine to return to her body with the last of her sanity.

At the same time, in the outer world, Mason also let go of his hand, and he watched as the withering annihilation energy in front of him was suppressed and recycled into Madeleine's body at this moment.

The flames in those chaotic eyes were also extinguished at this moment, and she looked at Mason who had bounced off her face armor in front of her with very complicated eyes.

The gray-blue lips moved, and he whispered:

"I'm sorry, Mason, I'm sorry for bothering you by my presence."

"You should have told her."

Mason pointed behind him, and Madeleine looked back to see Ciri flashing with a grunt.

The remnants of that dangerous power landed in the void, and the Iron Fallen uncovered his face with no trace of worry and concern.

(Little girl, are you alright?) ）”

She shouted, and in the next moment, Madeleine threw herself into Gollum's arms with red eyes, and she said with a cry:

"It hurts, Gollum."

The Empress hugged her trembling friend in her arms, and she stroked her shoulder, and said in a gentle voice that should not have belonged to the Predator:

"Gollum (It's okay, it's all right, I'm here.) ）”

(End of chapter)