Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, Medical Bay.
The sharp stench of disinfectant mixed with the metallic tang of blood, weighing down the atmosphere like lead.
Just as Hang was about to comfort the mentally exhausted Jean Grey, his expression suddenly froze. He snapped his head toward the window. Within the perception of his Mental Law, a vast energy fluctuation—like the collapse of a galaxy—was rushing closer at terrifying speed.
Three hundred kilometers—a distance unreachable for mortals. Yet that sovereign, world-dominating pressure had already crossed space itself, pressing heavily on every heart, turning the air thick and suffocating.
Apocalypse.
And he hadn't come alone—he had brought his strongest Horseman:
Magneto.
"Charles!" Hang didn't turn. His voice transmitted directly through the communicator into the underground levels. "Wake all students immediately! Evacuate everyone to the Level Three emergency shelter! Activate maximum defense protocols! Apocalypse is here ahead of schedule!"
Almost simultaneously, deep underground in the Cerebro chamber, Charles Xavier—who had been unconscious from psychic backlash—jerked awake with a sharp gasp, clutching his head in pain. Beside him, Hank McCoy rushed to steady him.
Ignoring the dizziness, Charles had already received Hang's urgent warning.
Back in the medical bay, everyone's faces turned deathly pale.
Scott Summers struggled out from the rubble, wiping blood from his lips, his voice hoarse from injury. "How long do we have?"
"At most, two minutes," Hang replied, his voice cold as frozen steel. "He brought Erik. The mark Apocalypse carved into his soul is deeper than the other three Horsemen combined."
"Bang!"
Hank slammed his fist into the remaining wall. Cracks spiderwebbed instantly across the reinforced bricks.
"Magneto plus an Apocalypse restored to mid–Skyfather level… our defenses won't last ten minutes against that!"
"Then we make them last ten minutes."
Hang stepped beside Jean, placing a steady hand on her shoulder. Pure Life Law energy flowed into her like a warm current. Her trembling lashes calmed, and a faint flush returned to her pale face.
"You did well just now, Jean," Hang said softly but firmly. "But what comes next will far exceed anything you've faced. The Phoenix Force—you must learn to guide it, not just endure it. Remember: the will to protect is the strongest force there is."
Jean bit her lip and nodded firmly.
Nearby, Psylocke and Angel struggled to their feet, guilt and resolve burning in their eyes.
"It's our fault… we led Apocalypse here…" Psylocke said quietly.
"Now isn't the time for blame," Hang cut in sharply, his gaze sweeping across everyone like a blade. "Your minds are unstable after having the marks removed. Can you still fight?"
Angel flexed his massive metal wings, which screeched with harsh metallic friction like an enraged hawk.
"As long as I can move, I can fight. This school saved me—time to repay that."
Ororo sat up from her bed, electricity crackling faintly at her fingertips, the air filling with the scent of ozone.
"Same here. My power has already taken too many innocent lives while I was controlled. This time—I'll use it to protect them."
Hang studied them. Wounded, exhausted—but their fighting spirit still burned.
He gave a slight nod.
"The defenses are active. Shelter sealed," Charles's voice came through the communicator, heavy with fatigue. "But Hank's right—against Erik, they won't last thirty seconds. Hang, what's the plan?"
Hang walked to the shattered window, gazing into the distant sky.
Clouds were twisting unnaturally into a massive vortex. Space itself looked like a sheet of paper being torn apart.
"The plan is simple," Hang said, turning back. In his eyes, ten laws—Time, Space, Force, Body, Life, Death, Reality, Soul, Mind, Devouring—circulated like stars. "We stall them."
"I'll face Apocalypse head-on."
"Erik is yours, Charles. You're the only one who can bypass Apocalypse's mental barrier and reach his true consciousness."
"The rest of you—Scott, Ororo!" Hang's voice exploded in their minds. "Contain the shockwaves! Protect the main building! Nothing reaches the shelter below! Angel, Psylocke—neutralize uncontrolled metal constructs!"
"You're taking Apocalypse alone?!" Scott shouted in disbelief. "He's a true Skyfather!"
"I know exactly how strong he is."
Hang raised his right hand. A miniature domain of ten-colored laws formed in his palm—like a newborn universe, radiating terrifying power.
Before his words fully fell—
The sky split open.
A massive spatial rift tore across the heavens above the school, its edges burning with ancient golden runes.
Apocalypse stepped out slowly.
Behind him floated Magneto, eyes empty, surrounded by a terrifying magnetic field—and a colossal metallic sphere over fifty meters wide, formed from Cairo's underground metal.
Apocalypse descended onto the lawn. Each step made the earth tremble.
He looked over the battered mansion, his expression devoid of anger—only divine indifference, as though all things were dust.
"Charles Xavier."
His voice wasn't mere sound—it was a psychic resonance, like ancient thunder echoing directly within every soul.
"I gave you a chance—to lead these 'futures' into my great purification. Yet you chose to shelter traitors and steal my Horsemen."
He raised his hand. Golden light blazed—not mere energy, but authority itself.
"Now witness the new world you rejected… bury your old era."
Molecular Manipulation—activated!
The lawn's soil and grass disintegrated and reformed in an instant. Within three seconds, they became countless razor-sharp crystal spikes.
Like a reversed tidal wave, they surged toward the mansion with piercing shrieks.
Hang vanished—
Reappearing ten meters in front of the building.
With a clenched hand, the Law of Space formed an invisible, indestructible barrier.
The crystal storm slammed into it—only to shatter silently, all momentum stripped away.
Apocalypse's gaze finally fixed on Hang. The golden glow in his eyes intensified.
"So it is you… the anomaly who dares strip away my mark."
"A relic abandoned by your own era, buried under a pyramid for five thousand years," Hang sneered. "And you dare speak of a 'new world'?"
Apocalypse laughed in fury.
He spread his arms. Space warped violently, cracking like glass.
Molecular Manipulation. Energy Amplification. Spatial Distortion.
Three perfected abilities fused into a hundred-meter golden domain of destruction.
The domain touched the mansion—
And it began to disintegrate.
Bricks, steel, glass—all reduced to atoms, then reshaped into massive metal dragons that roared toward Hang.
Hang didn't move.
His own domain erupted outward—ten-colored laws colliding head-on with Apocalypse's golden field.
"—!"
No explosion—only pure force.
Air compressed into solid white before detonating outward. The shockwave ripped up the lawn, uprooted trees, and pulverized what remained of the medical bay walls.
Inside the domain—
The metal dragons were sliced apart by Space Law, crushed by Force Law, and erased by the clash of Life and Death Laws.
For the first time in millennia—
Apocalypse's pupils shrank.
"Interesting."
He vanished.
Reappearing behind Hang, a blazing golden spear forming in his hand—thrusting silently toward Hang's heart.
Without turning, Hang swung back.
A Dark Trident materialized, intercepting the spear perfectly.
Death Law collided with amplified energy—detonating in blinding white light that shook the mansion's very foundations.
Hang retreated ten meters, twirling the trident before pointing it forward.
He could feel it—
This mid–Skyfather clone was nearing its limit.
Apocalypse wielded fewer laws—but each had been refined over millennia.
And worse—
Magneto hovered above.
His arms spread wide. A massive magnetic field enveloped everything within ten kilometers.
Steel frameworks inside the school groaned under strain, ready to tear apart.
Hang sent out a thread of Mental Law, probing Erik's mind.
It struck—
A golden barrier of ancient runes.
Every attempt triggered violent backlash.
He couldn't brute-force it.
"Charles!" Hang shouted while clashing with Apocalypse in a blur of motion. "I'll open a path—use Cerebro and pull him out!"
"Understood!"
Deep underground—
Charles unleashed his full psychic power through Cerebro, locking onto Erik.
"Erik… my old friend. I know you're still there."
He reached the golden prison.
Inside—
Erik's true consciousness lay trapped in darkness.
Each attempt to enter burned Charles's mind, blood beading at his temples.
Above—
Hang split his focus, weaving millions of psychic threads, searching for weakness.
Apocalypse sneered. "You think you can save him? My mark is fused with his soul. Tear it away, and he becomes nothing but a husk."
"Not necessarily!"
Hang pushed all ten laws to their limit.
Space stabilized. Time slowed backlash.
And his Mental Law became a blade—
Striking a single weak point.
"Now!"
Charles seized the moment—
His consciousness shot through like lightning.
Through layers of golden fog—
He found Erik.
A blank white space.
Erik crouched in the corner, trembling, whispering in despair:
"I killed them… I killed them all… it was me…"
"Erik!"
Charles grabbed his shoulders.
"That wasn't you! It was Apocalypse controlling you!"
Erik slowly lifted his head.
His once-sharp eyes were empty—filled only with despair.
"But my hands moved, Charles… my power tore them apart…"
His voice shook, soaked in blood-soaked memories.
"I felt every death… every fear… all of it… inside my head…"
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