The Phoenix Force
The falling Hollow Purple pierced through space and annihilated the entire White House!
The political center of the United States, one of the nation's symbols, and an iconic building with centuries of history vanished in an instant. Nothing remained but a bottomless pit!
Immediately after it happened, all the top military officials received the news. From their hidden military bases, they watched the footage captured by surveillance satellites.
From the moment the White Devil appeared, to the terrifying blood-red glow that lingered over the entire White House and refused to fade, to the battle between the White Devil and the X-Men, the horrifying shockwaves, and the terrifying repulsive force that destroyed an area thousands of meters across!
And finally, the White Devil's mocking face as he raised his middle finger toward the sky, casually taking out dozens of Sentinel Robots, entering the White House, killing the president, and using the terrifying Hollow Purple to annihilate the centuries-old White House!
They were all furious. This was a challenge to the entire United States!
But they were even more afraid. The White Devil could now survive a nuclear bomb unscathed, and they had no way left to kill him!
Especially now that the White Devil had begun his revenge and taken their files from that incompetent president. With the White Devil's extraordinary investigative abilities, given enough time, he could surely track them down one by one and kill them!
"No. The plan to deal with the White Devil must be restarted. We're already locked in a fight to the death with him. He won't let us go!" one general said fearfully during the internal meeting the generals had convened again.
Another general looked just as frightened. He recalled the unprecedented tragedy at the White House, and the White Devil standing on the ground and looking up at the surveillance satellite in the sky, as if gazing down at them. Even his soul trembled:
"We need to give Colonel Stryker's research our full support. He has an extensive understanding of Mutants. The Sentinel Robots, in particular, can possess multiple Mutant abilities and have enormous potential. It's entirely possible they could stand against the White Devil one day!"
"But the last battle proved that the Sentinel Robots were no match for the White Devil..." another general said, looking troubled and utterly unconvinced.
The general who had just advocated supporting Stryker immediately countered:
"No. The Sentinel Robots are still only in their earliest stage. The Sentinel Program's ultimate goal is for the robots to copy Mutant abilities and store and transmit them to every other Sentinel Robot!
"They'll also be able to counter their opponents by using different Mutant abilities, depending on the abilities of the Mutants they face!"
But the other generals still weren't convinced:
"The White Devil is already too powerful to defeat with numbers. His Mutant abilities have virtually no weaknesses. Whether at long range or in close combat, whether attacking or staying alive, he's reached the pinnacle of Mutant ability!
"Even if the Sentinel Robots collected every Mutant ability in the world, and even if there were countless of them, they still couldn't pose the slightest threat to the White Devil. His repulsive force alone would be enough to wipe them out with ease!"
"No!" the general retorted. "The Sentinel Program has an ultimate concept: Sentinel Robots could raise the limits of Mutant abilities!
"If we could raise the limits of spatial attacks, we could break through the White Devil's supposedly impenetrable defenses. If we could raise the limits of a steel body, we wouldn't have to fear the White Devil's attacks!
"And we've discovered an exceptionally unusual ability user. His Mutant ability erases all Mutant abilities around him. Even if it can't affect the White Devil right now, raising its limits would surely make it effective against him!"
"But that's only a theory. With our technology, it's virtually impossible to achieve anything like that," the other generals argued.
The general who had proposed supporting Colonel Stryker gave them a mysterious smile, then clapped his hands. Two people entered the conference room from outside.
One of them was covered in tattoos from head to toe and looked like a street thug. The other looked extremely strange, with eerily green skin and a head several times larger than an ordinary person's.
Many of the generals recognized the first man. He was the terrorist who had attacked Tony Stark at a car race some time ago. His name seemed to be Ivan Vanko. They didn't recognize the other man at all.
Seeing the other generals look at him questioningly, the general who supported Colonel Stryker smiled with confidence:
"Trust me. Dr. Sterns and Dr. Vanko won't disappoint you!"
Outside the room, after ordering the Master of Illusions to end his control over the generals, Colonel Stryker smiled maliciously. White Devil, just you wait!
At Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, in a hidden laboratory, Jean Grey was using the Phoenix Force she had just begun to master to repair Cyclops's body.
During the battle with the White Devil, he had easily defeated her. After the terrifying Black-Red Singularity sent her flying, she had nearly died. But at the most critical moment, she had grasped some of the Phoenix Force and survived.
Afterward, Quicksilver rescued them all, but even with his speed, he couldn't get them out unharmed.
Everyone else had suffered serious injuries, more or less. Only Wolverine, with his healing factor and Adamantium Alloy skeleton, had escaped unscathed!
Cyclops had lost more than half his body to the terrifying repulsive force. If Jean Grey hadn't immediately used the Phoenix Force to repair him, Cyclops would already be dead.
The others had also lost limbs, but they were recovering quickly under the influence of the Phoenix Force.
She restored the Professor's lower body using matter-rearrangement abilities. At last, the X-Men and the others had all recovered.
Even so, they weren't the least bit happy. A heavy atmosphere hung over the entire laboratory. The White Devil loomed over the X-Men like a dark sky, leaving them unable to breathe!
Cyclops suddenly threw a hard punch at the wall beside him. As his fist struck it, red blood slowly ran down the pristine white surface:
"Strong Guy is dead. Darwin is dead. Countless civilians are dead. The Mutant Liberation Treaty will never be passed now. All our efforts were in vain. Our dream is a joke in the face of the White Devil!
"Kill him. We have to kill him!"
Even Professor X didn't try to stop him this time. They were consumed by hatred for the White Devil. He wasn't just their enemy; he was also a major obstacle to peace between Mutants and humans!
But then they fell silent. How could they possibly kill someone as powerful as the White Devil?
Everyone looked at Jean Grey. Now that she had mastered some of the Phoenix Force, she might be able to fully master the Phoenix Force within her—and might even obtain more fragments of it!
She was their only hope!
Before you continue