The falling purple sphere of imaginary mass pierced through space, annihilating the entire White House!
The political center of the United States, a national symbol, and a landmark building with hundreds of years of history vanished in an instant. Aside from a bottomless crater, not a single trace remained.
In the immediate aftermath, all high-ranking military officials received the news. From their various hidden military bases, they watched the footage captured by surveillance satellites.
They saw everything: from the first appearance of the White Demon to the horrific crimson mist that lingered over the White House ruins; the clash between the White Demon and the X-Men; the terrifying shockwaves of battle; and the repulsive force that leveled a radius of thousands of meters.
Finally, they saw the mocking face of the White Demon as he raised a middle finger to the sky, casually dismantled dozens of Sentinel robots, entered the White House to kill the President, and used that terrifying purple sphere to erase the historic structure from existence.
They were beyond furious; this was a provocation against the entire United States!
But more than anger, they felt terror. Now that the White Demon could survive a nuclear strike unscathed, they had no conventional means left to kill him. Especially now that he had begun his retaliation and obtained their personal dossiers from the hands of the "incompetent" President. With his extraordinary reconnaissance abilities, it was only a matter of time before he hunted them down one by one.
"No, the plan against the White Demon must be restarted. We are already locked in a fight to the death; he will not let us go!" one general declared, his voice trembling during their emergency internal meeting.
Another general looked equally pale. He recalled the unprecedented tragedy at the White House and the way the White Demon looked up at the satellite as if looking down at them from a higher plane. His very soul shuddered. "We must provide full support to Colonel Stryker's research. He has a profound understanding of mutants. The Sentinels—those capable of possessing multiple mutant abilities—have massive potential. It is not impossible for them to contend with the White Demon in the future!"
"But in the previous battle, it was proven that the Sentinels are no match for him..." another general remarked gloomily, devoid of confidence.
The general supporting Stryker countered immediately: "No, the current Sentinels are only in their initial stage. The ultimate vision of the Sentinel Program is for the robots to replicate a mutant's ability and transmit that data to all other Sentinels! Furthermore, they can adapt and use specific mutant powers to counter their targets!"
However, the other generals remained skeptical. "The White Demon's strength is no longer something that can be overcome by numbers. His abilities have no obvious flaws; whether long-range or melee, offense or survival, he has reached the pinnacle. Even if the Sentinels collect every mutant power in the world, his repulsive force alone is enough to wipe them out!"
"No!" the first general argued. "The Sentinel Program has a final hypothesis: that the robots can actually raise the ceiling of mutant abilities! If we can increase the limit of spatial attacks, we can pierce his 'absolute' defense. If we raise the limit of an 'iron body' ability, we can withstand his strikes! Moreover, we've discovered a very special individual. His ability is to nullify all mutant powers around him. Even if that power currently can't affect the White Demon, if we push it to its extreme, it will surely work!"
"But that's just a theory. With our current tech, it's nearly impossible to achieve," others argued.
The general supporting Stryker gave a mysterious smile and clapped his hands. Two men walked into the conference room. One was covered in tattoos and looked like a street thug; the other was bizarre in appearance, with sickly green skin and a cranium several times larger than a normal human's.
The generals recognized the first man as Ivan Vanko, the terrorist who attacked Tony Stark at the racing event. The second man, they didn't know at all.
Seeing the questioning looks from his peers, the general smiled confidently. "Believe me, Dr. Samuel Sterns and Dr. Ivan Vanko will not disappoint you!"
Outside the door, having commanded Mastermind (Jason Wyngarde) to cease his mental influence over the generals, Colonel Stryker wore a sinister grin. White Demon, just you wait!
At the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters, in a hidden laboratory, Jean Grey was using her newly grasped Phoenix Force to mend Cyclops's body.
In the battle against the White Demon, she had been easily cast aside. After being launched by that horrific black-red singularity, she had been at death's door, but in that moment of extreme crisis, she tapped into a portion of the Phoenix Force to survive.
Quicksilver had whisked them away, but even at his speed, he couldn't get them out entirely unscathed. Aside from Wolverine—who possessed a healing factor and an Adamantium skeleton—everyone else was severely injured. More than half of Cyclops's body had been annihilated by the repulsive force; if Jean hadn't used the Phoenix Force to restructure his matter immediately, he would have died.
The others were missing limbs as well, but they were recovering rapidly under the influence of the Phoenix. After Jean restored Professor X's lower body, the X-Men were finally stabilized.
Yet, there was no joy. A heavy atmosphere hung over the lab. The White Demon was like a dark shroud pressing down on them, making it impossible to breathe.
Cyclops suddenly punched the wall, blood trickling from his knuckles against the white paint. "Havok is dead. Darwin is dead. Countless civilians are dead. The Liberation Treaty will never be signed. All our efforts were in vain... our dreams are a joke in front of the White Demon! Kill him. We must kill him!"
This time, even Professor X didn't step in to stop the talk of vengeance. They were filled with hatred; the White Demon was not just their personal enemy, but a massive stumbling block to the peaceful coexistence of mutants and humans.
But silence soon followed. Given the White Demon's power, how could they possibly kill him?
Everyone turned their gaze toward Jean Grey. Having mastered a portion of the Phoenix Force, she was their only hope to fully harness that power and perhaps find more fragments of it.
She was their only chance.
....
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