The Phoenix Force.
Martin's eyes flashed. Anyone claiming they weren't tempted by the Phoenix Force would be lying. Its upper limits were insanely high, borderline omniversal. Calling it cosmic-level barely scratched the surface.
"Right now, Jean's only in the Dark Phoenix phase," Martin murmured. "Her overall strength fluctuates between sub-Skyfather and Skyfather level. Once she gathers more Phoenix fragments, she'll evolve into the White Phoenix."
Without hesitation, Martin departed the base and made his way to New York at high speed.
...
Alkali Lake.
A secret military research base lay hidden beneath its frozen waters.
"Jean! Fight it! Don't let her manipulate you!"
Logan was the closest to Jean when it happened, and he took the full brunt of it.
The Phoenix Force surged from Jean Grey in a blinding, atomic wave, incinerating everything around her to ash. Not even atoms were spared.
Farther away, Scott felt a sudden, sickening wrongness in the air. He turned, face pale, only to vanish with a single scream. The Phoenix Force erased him. Not even a corpse remained. It was as though he'd been vaporized out of existence.
Logan let out a guttural growl, body contorted in agony. His adamantium skeleton glinted beneath scorched, regenerating flesh. His healing factor went into overdrive, barely keeping him from death.
But it wasn't enough to win. It just kept him from dying.
"Why now?! Why the hell did she lose control at a time like this?!"
Logan's face twisted in fury and anguish.
Charles Xavier had already been captured by Colonel Stryker. The plan was to join forces with Magneto and rescue him, but none of them anticipated Jean's descent into chaos.
Elsewhere, the Brotherhood of Mutants, led by Magneto, launched a brutal assault on Alkali Lake from the opposite flank. Their tactics were ruthless: kill on sight.
But suddenly, Magneto's expression changed.
The very air around them began to dissolve, matter unraveling in great waves of entropy.
"No…" Magneto whispered. He knew this power. This terrifying, reality-warping force could only be Jean Grey.
"Charles… If only you'd listened to me all those years ago," he muttered bitterly. "If you'd chosen to guide her instead of sealing her power away… she wouldn't have birthed the Dark Phoenix."
Snapping into action, he summoned metal from the surroundings, wrapping it around his comrades to evacuate them with blinding speed. A few weren't fast enough, swallowed by the maelstrom of Jean's fury.
From within the collapsing base, Colonel Stryker watched it all unfold via surveillance feed.
He laughed.
The hatred etched on his face was chilling.
Even as the underwater facility disintegrated around him, as its walls buckled and burst, he felt nothing but satisfaction.
"Do you see it now, Charles?" he sneered. "Your greatest student... is burning your legacy to the ground."
"Pity. I had no idea Doctor Grey held such devastating power. An Omega-level mutant, huh? If I'd known that, I wouldn't have bothered trying to capture you alive."
He let out a mad, gleeful cackle.
This was the man who had once used his mutant son, the illusionist Jason, to control Nightcrawler and attempt to assassinate the President, just to justify an assault on Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters.
After capturing Charles through threats, manipulation, and brute force, Stryker was on the brink of executing his master plan.
Turning to the woman standing blank-faced beside him, he barked:
"Yuriko! Guard the entrance. No one gets in, not even Jean Grey. Do you understand?"
Without a word, Yuriko Oyama, Lady Deathstrike, nodded and strode away like a machine, obeying without question.
"Stop this, Stryker," Xavier said, voice trembling, "Hatred won't save you. You'll die with the rest of us if Jean can't be stopped."
Stryker's eyes gleamed with fanaticism.
"You think I'm afraid to die?" he snapped. "After my mutant son murdered my wife with his powers? I've already lost everything! If I can wipe your kind off the Earth, it's worth it!"
He turned to Jason.
"Jason! While we still have time, lock down Charles' mind. Use him to erase every last mutant on the planet!"
"No! Stryker, don't!" Xavier gasped.
But it was too late.
Jason, known as the Great Illusionist, struck from the psychic plane. In a flash, he overwhelmed Xavier's mental defenses and trapped his consciousness in an illusion maze.
Charles Xavier became a puppet.
"Charles, you'll become humanity's greatest hero," Stryker whispered maniacally.
He fitted the Cerebro Enhancer to Xavier's head and gave the order:
"Search for all mutants—no, wait. New target. Search for Martin."
"Martin's a monster. A terrorist. He's killed too many, left too much death in his wake. Whole fleets, cities, even dared challenge beings like Odin. He's more dangerous than World War III!"
Among those who hated Martin most were General Ross, the architect of the Super Soldier Program, and Stryker himself, architect of anti-mutant biowarfare.
Martin had annihilated military task forces, sunk an entire Atlantic fleet, and even survived a nuclear detonation. To men like Stryker, he was the apex threat, a demon in human form.
"Before I wipe out all mutants, I'll start with him! Killing Martin will only take a second!"
"Let the world remember the name Stryker, as the man who saved humanity!"
The dam began to tremble violently. The underground facility was coming apart.
But Stryker was beyond reason.
"Search for Martin…"
Xavier's voice was hollow, mechanical.
"Kill him," Stryker commanded.
"Kill Martin…"
Xavier's immense psychic power surged, amplified to devastating levels by Cerebro.
Stryker's eyes gleamed with madness.
This was the moment.
The moment he would be immortalized.
Humanity would praise him. Statues would be built in his honor. He would be their savior.
But then—
"Hm? That psychic signature… Charles."
Martin had just stepped into the ruins of the dam, walking calmly through the collapsing darkness.
Two Infinity Stones, Mind and Space, glowed faintly on his right hand.
He raised an eyebrow.
"Charles has been mind-controlled again? That's a shame."
He shook his head, smiling faintly.
This reminded him of that day on the coast, when Xavier tried to mentally subdue him and his forces, only to be struck down by the overwhelming mental chorus of the AllSpark.
Now it was happening again.
The Mind Stone on Martin's hand pulsed.
With a soft flicker, Xavier's psychic assault was shattered like glass.
From the shadows, Stryker watched Xavier convulsing, blood trickling from his nose, and felt a cold spike of terror.
"What's happening?! Charles! Did you kill him?! Answer me, damn it!"
But Xavier had already collapsed into unconsciousness.
Then—
TSSSSHHHH.
A glowing blue vortex opened in the air.
Martin stepped through.
His voice was low, calm, and deadly.
"Who did you just say you wanted to kill?"
The Space Stone's light faded behind him.
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