Chapter 135: Professor X Falls, Dark Phoenix Awakens
Chapter 135: Professor X Falls, Dark Phoenix Awakens
The Skynet Sentinel's punch shook the forcefield violently, striking fear into the hearts of the mutants hiding inside.
Even Apocalypse, who maintained the field, showed a rare shift in expression.
Seeing this, Magneto immediately hurled an iron sphere at the enemy.
Boom!
The iron sphere blasted the Skynet Sentinel away—but it was clear the blow hadn't inflicted any real damage.
The Sentinel staggered to its feet. Its surface shimmered like liquid mercury, the impact having temporarily liquefied its metal shell.
But in the next second, the writhing liquid metal reformed and restored its body.
At that moment, everyone present realized—this Sentinel was different.
Magneto focused entirely on attacking, manipulating countless iron spheres to bombard it. Meanwhile, Apocalypse stirred up a sandstorm to assist.
At first, the Skynet Sentinel seemed sluggish, unable to dodge the iron spheres flexibly.
Then, in the blink of an eye, its arms morphed into dual blades, glowing red-hot from extreme heat.
With a crimson slash, it sliced an iron ball clean in half.
Someone cried out, "Is it evolving?!"
"No—it's building a data model to develop a counter-strategy."
Among them were experts who offered explanations—not entirely correct, but partially on point.
Meanwhile, in a secure bunker, Trask provided the real explanation.
He addressed the five chief scientists: "Skynet can analyze and learn. Don't be fooled by its early disadvantage—it's just collecting enemy data."
In fact, many of the sixth-generation Sentinel's features hadn't even been tested yet.
For now, Trask dared not boast—just in case he jinxed it and got humiliated.
"Doctor, you're truly a genius! The future of humanity!"
"Indeed! Without you, humanity would suffer a great loss!"
"I suggest we award the Doctor the highest honor in his field once this is over, in recognition of his contributions."
…
Listening to the flattery, Trask merely smiled and didn't respond. He didn't take any of it to heart.
As for awards? He disdained such empty accolades.
His achievements needed no validation from others.
Back on the battlefield—
Despite going all out, Magneto failed to leave so much as a scratch on the Sentinel.
Simple bombardment proved useless, so he tried sealing it in metal.
The Sentinel transformed into a red-hot blade, slicing its way out from within.
When bound with iron chains, it flowed like water—changing shape, size, even separating and rejoining at will.
…
Skynet: Data collection complete.
Skynet: Magnetic field model constructed.
…
Suddenly, the Sentinel raised a hand—an incoming iron sphere halted midair.
"What?!"
The mutants stared in stunned disbelief.
A robot… mastering magnetism?
That was straight-up science fiction.
Imitating elemental abilities like altering surface structure—they could understand that through advanced tech. But magnetism? Something intangible and invisible? This was on another level.
"It's happening!" Trask declared excitedly. "Advanced mimicry protocol engaged! It can now replicate 90% of power models. The magnetic field model is fully operational!"
"Doctor, could it also replicate Professor X's abilities?"
Trask's face fell. His tone turned flat: "According to my research, all psychic abilities require a soul."
The one who asked let out an awkward chuckle and wisely kept quiet.
Expecting an AI to have a soul—what did they think this was, divine creation?
Besides, Trask knew exactly what they were after: controlling national leadership through psychic manipulation.
"What do we do?" Magneto asked Allen anxiously.
His signature power had been stolen by a robot—it infuriated him.
"Old man, asking a lunatic for advice feels a bit odd, don't you think?"
Allen remained calm and collected the whole time—his class was maxed out, and he could time-skip away whenever he wanted.
And if things got apocalyptic, there were always other mysterious factions ready to clean up the mess.
"Stop wasting time. Think of a plan," Charles interjected.
"You leave me no choice."
Allen pulled down his hood, struck a pose with arms akimbo, and declared, "HYDRA-Captain, online!"
Hiss…
Many around clenched their fists, itching to punch him.
Seriously? Now?!
Allen barked orders: "Nightcrawler! Mystique!"
The two looked over, confused—unsure what nonsense he was up to this time.
"Say 'copy that'."
"…Copy that!"
They went along only because Allen's schemes often worked.
With a rare seriousness, Allen said, "Each of you take a squad of melee mutants, teleport into the enemy base, sabotage the disruptor array, and capture the mastermind."
"Understood!"
Everyone snapped to attention. The Skynet data hub was poorly defended—now was the perfect time to strike.
"To the rest—get serious. Unleash your full power, find the Sentinel's weakness, and destroy it in one blow."
Everyone nodded in agreement. It wasn't a great plan, but it was the best they had.
The magnetic field dropped.
Nightcrawler and Mystique each led a team and teleported out. The others scattered to strategic positions.
Apocalypse focused fully, compressing the sandstorm into a dense metal mass that enveloped the Sentinel.
Magneto manipulated the mass to crush it from all sides.
Storm had ascended into the sky, eyes glowing white—clouds gathered, lightning roared.
She was preparing a lightning strike.
The metal prison lasted barely three seconds before it began melting.
The Sentinel's unique ability—matter absorption and regenerative growth—was now fully engaged.
Iceman and Pyro launched a coordinated assault: ice and fire from two directions, hoping to disrupt the internal mechanisms.
Within seconds, the Sentinel absorbed both powers, combining them into a strategic response.
Boom!
A bolt of lightning, thick as a barrel, crashed down—hitting the Sentinel dead-on.
The blinding light painted the world pure white for a moment.
When it faded, the Sentinel stood charred and motionless.
"Alex!" Cyclops shouted.
He and Havok attacked in tandem—laser beams and concussive blasts, identical in nature but from different points.
They were brothers, and their synergy amplified their power far beyond the sum of its parts.
Boom!
The impact caused a massive explosion.
The battlefield was littered with Sentinel debris.
Was it over?
Of course not.
From the charred remains, mercury-like liquid metal seeped out, rushing toward a focal point.
On its way, it consumed wreckage from other Sentinels, restoring its original mass.
This time, it regenerated even faster.
Before the mutants could launch a second strike, the Sentinel was fully restored.
…
Skynet: Data collection complete.
Skynet: Laser wave model constructed.
Skynet: Executing high-priority kill protocol.
…
Red energy lit up the Sentinel's eyes—its rising power made everyone shudder.
The combined ability of Cyclops and Havok exceeded ordinary threat levels.
Then, two rays of energy shot out, rippling with concentric waves.
No!
It was targeting Professor X.
Indeed—the beam locked onto Charles, who had been observing quietly.
The Sentinel's head swiveled 180 degrees—aimed directly at Charles.
Magneto rushed to intercept with a metal sphere; Apocalypse instinctively reinforced Charles with a shield.
But the metal ball was blasted apart. The forcefield shattered like glass.
Charles's eyes filled with crimson light.
Due to his psychic nature, his brain operated at speeds far beyond any normal human.
But ever since he stopped using the serum and returned to his wheelchair, he lacked the reflexes to react.
"Fk! Goddamn Sentinel, fk your mother—ahhhh!"
Right before his death, Charles broke character.
The ever-dignified Professor X finally lost it—he couldn't hold back the foul words.
A psychic mutant, who posed zero physical threat, had become the Sentinel's first target—despite never saying a word or making a move.
Even if Allen were killed first, it would've made sense—he was unpredictable and dangerous.
Boom!
The energy beam vaporized Charles instantly—wheelchair and all.
Maybe the Sentinel figured he'd need it to meet Death in the afterlife.
Why target Charles first? Simple.
During the earlier school raid, Trask had set a high-priority kill order that failed to execute.
It remained at the top of the mission log.
"No!!!"
Jean Grey screamed in anguish.
Her expression twisted with pain, blackness pooling in her eyes, golden light surging through her facial veins.
The Phoenix Force flowed within her. With her spirit broken, her darker persona could no longer be suppressed.
To her, Charles was more than a mentor—he was like a father.
Her eyes turned pitch black. Black flames erupted behind her.
…
Skynet: Unable to analyze target data.
Skynet: Target energy exceeds threshold.
Skynet: No viable counter-strategy available.
…
The dark persona—Dark Phoenix—had taken over.
The once warm and radiant senior student was now cold as ice.
Dark Phoenix strode toward the Sentinel.
Warning alerts flooded its system.
Another laser beam fired—only to stop dead a meter from her, repelled by an invisible force wall.
She raised a hand.
Black flames erupted, countering the attack.
The terrifying Phoenix Force devoured the beam and, upon touching the Sentinel, incinerated it into ash.
…
Skynet: Executing Protocol #532.
Skynet: Transferring data...
…