The White Queen's Surrender
Once Xu Mo made his decision, he moved without hesitation.
In the clearing ahead, Emma Frost—the White Queen—was seconds from death at the hands of the towering Sentinel units.
Though her diamond form gave her immense durability, each machine stood more than ten meters tall, their adaptive strength multiplying her disadvantage. Her crystalline body cracked under the relentless impacts, and she was flung backward like a ragdoll.
As she sailed helplessly through the air, two Sentinels behind her morphed their right arms into massive conical spikes, thrusting forward to impale her.
Emma saw the attack coming, but her body was numb from the brutal collisions. She couldn't adjust her trajectory. For the first time in years, despair washed over her.
It's over.
Her telepathy—powerful enough to rival Professor X—was useless against machines. And her diamond form, copied by their adaptive systems, offered no path to victory. She exhaled, resigned, and closed her eyes.
But the pain never came.
When she dared to open them, a dark-armored figure stood between her and death. Xu Mo.
He held the Sentinel's massive spiked arm in one hand. The machine strained, servos whirring, but the limb didn't budge. Xu Mo twisted, pulling the two Sentinels into each other. Their diamondized bodies smashed together with shattering force, collapsing into fragments.
Then his form blurred. In less than thirty seconds, the clearing rang with the thunder of metal breaking apart. One by one, every Sentinel fell to pieces.
Emma stared, astonished. The machines that had driven her to exhaustion—unstoppable predators of mutantkind—crumbled like toys before him.
I'm saved.
Her body slackened in relief, her diamond form melting away. But the moment her skin returned to flesh, gravity took her. She crashed to the ground, tearing open her injured shoulder with a cry.
Xu Mo landed lightly, helmet retracting as he turned to her.
He hadn't intended to drop her. His psychic power could stabilize her diamond form, but once she returned to flesh, her body slipped through his telekinetic hold.
Emma looked up, surprise flashing across her pale features. The man who had destroyed a dozen Sentinels effortlessly… was barely in his twenties.
Clutching her shoulder, she forced herself upright. "...Thank you."
Xu Mo's tone was cool. "Thank you is more than words. Can you still stand?"
She tried twice, but her legs failed her. Xu Mo sighed, stepped forward, and lifted her effortlessly into his arms. With a surge of energy, he carried her into the sky.
---
Brooklyn, New York – Xu Mo's Seaview Villa
Emma groaned as the bullet lodged in her shoulder slid free, expelled by Xu Mo's precision.
"Rip the fabric around the wound," Xu Mo instructed, opening a medical kit.
Emma gave a faint, amused smile. "Is that really necessary?"
Before he could answer, she slipped off her top, leaving only her undergarments. "This is simpler, isn't it?"
Xu Mo froze, then shook his head, smirking faintly. "As long as you're comfortable."
Emma caught his reaction and laughed softly, even through her exhaustion.
After dressing the wound, Xu Mo leaned back. "No vital organs hit. You'll recover, but you need rest."
Emma reclined on the sofa, eyes half-lidded, studying him. "You know who I am, don't you?"
Her telepathic skills, though blocked, let her read the subtleties in his expression. She couldn't sense his thoughts—strangely, she couldn't sense him at all—but his eyes betrayed recognition.
Xu Mo said nothing. Instead, with a wave of his hand, a bottle of whiskey and two glasses floated from the cabinet. He poured and slid one to her.
"I saved you because you're useful to me. Nothing more."
Emma's face remained composed. As the White Queen of the Hellfire Club, second only to Sebastian Shaw, she was long accustomed to such bargains.
"If I was worth saving, then I'll find a way to repay it," she murmured. The pain in her shoulder dulled as the medicine took effect. She rose unsteadily and moved to him, brushing her fingers across his jaw with a smile equal parts charm and challenge.
"Tell me, am I as useful as you think?"
---
Half an hour later, Xu Mo departed, leaving Emma to recuperate in the villa. She stood at the window, wiping the corner of her mouth, and watched him vanish into the sky.
Her telepathic probes had failed—again. Not even Professor X could hide his existence completely. Charles created mental barriers, yes, but his presence could still be felt. Xu Mo, however, was different. He left no trace at all, as if he didn't exist on the psychic plane.
That was more terrifying than Charles Xavier himself.
And combined with his raw strength, telekinesis, and resilience, Emma could think of no mutant who surpassed him.
That was why she had chosen surrender so quickly. Aligning with him wasn't weakness—it was survival.
---
Above the City
Xu Mo flew in silence, replaying Emma's account.
Years earlier, Emma Frost had been targeted by Bolivar Trask's Sentinel Program. Time and again, she fought them off, but even her diamond form could not withstand their evolving adaptations. Eventually, she withdrew from public life, evading pursuit.
But recently, the Sentinels had found her again. She'd nearly been taken, bound for a laboratory where her powers would have been dissected.
Without his intervention, that fate would have been certain.
Xu Mo narrowed his eyes. She's too valuable to waste.