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*****
Earth, Avengers Tower.
Tony and the Avengers were seated in the conference room, discussing the MODOK situation.
In the half-month since MODOK had escaped, he had orchestrated several terrorist activities. Although the Avengers' timely intervention had prevented mass casualties, these incidents shouldn't have happened in the first place.
"Tony! You should have called for more backup as soon as you found out about MODOK!" Natasha rubbed her temples, speaking with exasperation. Staying up late for the past two days made her feel like she had aged significantly.
"You turned a problem that could have been solved in one go into a lingering hassle," Sam Wilson, the Falcon, added his opinion.
"Sometimes, that inexplicable confidence and sense of superiority of yours just leads to trouble," Barton said coldly. Wanda and Pietro nodded in agreement.
Steve tapped the table. "Everyone, now is not the time to assign blame."
Tony's face was grim. He took a deep breath, his tone heavy. "I mishandled this. I will track down MODOK in the coming days."
Steve looked at Vision. "Any news on Walter, the one who provided the intel on MODOK?"
Walter might know more about MODOK's current status.
The Mind Stone on Vision's forehead flashed, projecting a holographic video.
In the footage, Walter was sprinting across the ground, his body continuously expanding. He smashed aside everything in his path, looking utterly unstoppable.
"After escaping MODOK's lab, he took the criminal named Alan with him. They ran all the way until they charged into this building and vanished."
The scene shifted to the building where Walter had disappeared.
"However, the surveillance equipment inside the building was affected by an unknown force. I only managed to recover less than a second of usable footage."
As Vision spoke, he pulled up the clip.
The image was blurry, filled with static like an old television with a bad signal, but after Vision's processing, it became barely legible.
"Is that a portal? Did this Walter guy awaken spatial abilities too?" Bruce asked in surprise.
"Wait, who is that?" Tony pointed to a figure in the footage, only half-emerged from the portal.
"Let me process the image," Vision said softly.
As he spoke, the image shifted and sharpened. Half a face appeared, and with Vision's intelligent reconstruction, a full face was revealed to them.
It was a man with grayish skin and a cold, detached expression.
"Who is this? Did he take Walter?" Natasha asked.
"Obviously. The spatial ability likely belongs to him as well," War Machine (Rhodey) muttered, stroking his chin. He asked Vision, "Can you find any information on this guy?"
"Searching now."
Vision responded, streams of data seemingly flowing across his eyes. With Vision's existence, navigating the network was incredibly convenient.
A few seconds later, Vision shook his head.
"There is no information or data related to him. It is as if he suddenly appeared out of thin air. There are not even any traces of information being erased."
"Suddenly appeared?" Bruce pushed up his glasses. "It's impossible for a person to just appear without even a trace of erased data—unless he's an alien, or not from this era."
Tony mused, "Then search backwards from today through history."
"One moment," Vision said calmly, the data streams in his eyes flashing again.
"Hey, everyone, aren't we dealing with MODOK? Are we getting off track?" Pietro asked, speechless.
"No, I have a hunch that this man is going to be many times more troublesome than MODOK," Wanda said with a frown.
Pietro shrugged. "Women's intuition again?"
Wanda nodded.
The group waited quietly until, after a long pause...
"Found him! In some ancient texts and legends!" Vision murmured, surprise flickering in his eyes. He projected the data as he spoke: "His name is Apocalypse. He existed around 3000 BC. He was the world's first mutant, worshipped by the people of that time as the ancestor of mutants! He was the 'God' of that era!"
"With every awakening, he and his apostles always bring destruction."
Apocalypse? Destruction?
Listening to Vision, the group was shocked.
"3000 BC? That's 5000 years ago," Rhodey couldn't help but quip. "Is this guy a living mummy?"
"This is much more terrifying than a mummy," Bruce said, frowning. "Why was he looking for Walter? Walter just awakened his abilities. Could it be... he wants Walter to be one of his apostles?"
He looked at the others in shock.
"I'm afraid so," Steve nodded, his brow furrowed. He continued, "His awakening brings destruction? What does he want to do?"
As soon as the words fell, everyone seemed to realize something simultaneously and cried out.
"Kent Star!"
"Yes! That has to be it!"
Tony spoke rapidly, "As the ancestor of mutants, a man who ruled a nation and was worshipped as a god, waking up to find the world completely changed... naturally, the first thing he'd want to do is reclaim his 'stolen' authority. So, he will definitely make a move on Kent Star!"
"Exactly!" Steve agreed, his expression grave. "And if he takes Kent Star, Earth will be next."
The room fell silent. Some involuntarily imagined the potential conflict, scenes flashing through their minds that made them shudder.
A collision between the mutant progenitor and the Kent family?
They exchanged glances, seeing the shock in each other's eyes.
"We have to notify Mike and Charles immediately so they can be on alert!" Steve decided.
"Um... what about MODOK? Are we ignoring him?" Pietro couldn't help but ask.
"Of course not!" Steve rubbed his temples. "We will continue to track MODOK, but we need to maintain contact with the X-Men and Kent Star. If Apocalypse appears, we need to ensure we can provide support at any time."
Everyone nodded.
Just then, Natasha looked at Pietro curiously. "Why do you care so much about MODOK?"
Pietro grinned. "Don't you guys want to see that giant head with your own eyes?"
The group was speechless.
Pietro continued muttering, "Besides, I really want to knock a head full of bumps onto him. That would look hilarious, hehe!"
Imagining the scene, the others couldn't help but chuckle.
Wanda glanced sideways at Pietro. "Can't you be a little more mature?"
Pietro grinned, looking a bit sheepish, but his desire to lump up MODOK's head only grew stronger.
...
"I'll notify Kent Star first," Tony said, initiating the communication link.
...
Kent Star.
Kent School for Gifted Youngsters, Charles's Office.
"I understand. We will be on guard."
Charles spoke, and the virtual screen before him vanished.
He rubbed his brow, a shadow cast over his heart.
Currently, they were living happily; the mutants had a good life. Why did people always want to do something to them? Why did someone always have to cause trouble?
"Apocalypse? Mutant ancestor? Hah..."
Charles murmured, a cold light flickering in his eyes.
"Want to rule us? Let him try!"
He whispered, then pressed his ring communicator. "Contact Jor-El, Clark, Nick Fury, and Erik... and my father!"
He paused. Remembering that Mike was traveling, Charles hesitated. "Wait, don't contact the others yet. Let me speak to my father alone first."
Mike was always their backbone. This matter was significant; having Mike's assurance would give him peace of mind.
After establishing a link with Mike, Charles explained the situation.
Although Mike's tone shifted slightly upon hearing the name Apocalypse—seemingly surprised by his appearance—he didn't seem particularly concerned.
After Mike assured him that he could return to support them at any time, Charles felt relieved and began contacting the others.
Moments later, after the school teachers—Logan and the other X-Men—arrived in his office, the holographic projections of Clark, Erik, Nick Fury, and Jor-El also appeared.
"So many people?" Clark was surprised, then frowned. "Did something happen?"
Charles wouldn't have gathered them all unless it was important.
Hearing this, everyone's gaze fell on Charles.
Charles's eyes narrowed.
"Everyone, a new enemy has appeared."
"Enemy?"
The group was startled.
Charles nodded. "Although we aren't 100% certain yet, we need to be vigilant."
As he spoke, he swiped his hand across the virtual screen, bringing up a simple but alarming file.
"The Avengers notified me. This is some data they found."
Everyone focused on the screen. Upon reading the information about Apocalypse and his Horsemen, their expressions grew serious.
"I will monitor the situation on the planet," Jor-El said with a smile.
As long as he wished, he could monitor the entire planet. Controlling the planet itself made him a formidable force, though he rarely displayed this power in front of others.
"I have a question."
Erik asked while thinking, "If he wants to do something, he will surely try to understand us first."
He paused, a touch of arrogance appearing on his stern face.
"Forgive my bluntness, but with the current power of Kent Star, what makes him think he can win? Is he so confident in his own power that he thinks he can defeat the X-Men, defeat Clark and the others, defeat... Mike?"
"That's impossible!"
Charles was equally confident. He had great faith in the X-Men and his family.
"So, he will definitely do something to reduce our strength, or increase his own," Clark said, his brow furrowed.
Hearing this, everyone lowered their heads in thought.
Just then, Nick Fury smiled faintly. "Instead of guessing what he wants to do, why not find him and solve the problem—Apocalypse—directly?"
"Right!" Logan said excitedly. "Why do we have to wait for him to come? We can find him ourselves!"
Everyone looked at Charles and Emma.
The two exchanged a glance and nodded.
With Cerebro, they should be able to do it.
"Let's go to the Cerebro Chamber," Charles said calmly, leading the way out.
The X-Men followed, while the holographic projections of Clark and the others vanished.
Moments later, the group arrived at the Cerebro Chamber, and the projections of Clark and the others reappeared.
The current Cerebro Chamber looked similar to the one on Earth, but in reality, it was far more advanced. Erik was even utilizing Kryptonian technology to develop a portable, ultra-compact Cerebro.
"I'll do it," Charles said to Emma, glancing at her stomach.
Emma nodded. Only the two of them could use Cerebro proficiently.
Although Jean could use it, she was currently banned from doing so because her personality issues hadn't been resolved.
Charles put on the helmet connected to the machine.
"Be careful," Clark cautioned.
Charles smiled and nodded. After activating Cerebro, he engaged his ability.
The machine amplified his power significantly. The most obvious improvement was the range; even from Kent Star, he could scan people on Earth.
Charles's eyes went blank as his perception expanded endlessly with the amplified psychic power. The chamber gradually filled with visual representations of every individual's mind.
Aside from a few blue and white lights, the red lights representing mutants formed a vast sea.
This was the current state of Kent Star.
Charles started his search on Kent Star.
Since Charles had never sensed Apocalypse's psychic signature before, he had to find him through others.
This was a massive workload that placed a heavy burden on Charles's brain, but he had some search tricks.
He established specific search parameters for the target.
Apocalypse was powerful, with a strong psychic presence. Charles started by filtering for the most prominent psychic fluctuations he could sense.
Furthermore, based on the data and his speculation about Apocalypse's personality and psychology, Charles set up exclusion filters to narrow the scope further.
"Confirmed. Apocalypse is not on Kent Star."
The group nodded. Nick Fury said, "If he has teleportation abilities, distance means nothing to him."
"Wait, what if he's wearing a psychic shield?" Erik frowned, raising a critical point.
Emma frowned. "Then we can only determine Apocalypse's location through the perspective of others. That is the most troublesome scenario."
Time passed slowly, and they still hadn't found Apocalypse.
Clearly, they had encountered the worst-case scenario—Apocalypse was prepared for them and was using a psychic shield.
Just as Charles was feeling mentally exhausted from the prolonged use of Cerebro, he suddenly spoke.
"I think I found him!"
(End of Chapter)