Marvel: Umbrella Corporation

"No! Stop, Jean! You have to learn to control yourself!"

As Charles finished speaking, Jean's eyes darkened, and the fiery Phoenix behind her flared up with an even brighter red glow.

In an instant, Charles's body followed in Apocalypse's footsteps, turning to ashes.

"No!"

Erik cried out in agony as he witnessed the scene.

Though they often stood on opposing sides due to differing ideologies, Charles and Erik had once fought side by side and shared a strong friendship.

Now, after killing Charles, Jean turned her gaze toward Erik.

"And you!"

Back when Jean was young and her Phoenix powers had gone out of control, both Charles and Erik had come to help.

In her mind now, neither of them were innocent.

As she focused on him, Erik's heart raced, and he quickly started to back away.

But a burst of Phoenix energy surged toward him in the next moment.

"Father, look out!"

Thankfully, Lorna reacted just in time, using a surge of metallic debris to block the Phoenix energy, preventing Erik from being reduced to ashes.

With his daughter's help, Erik snapped back to his senses and immediately joined her in controlling a wave of metal to defend against the onslaught.

The others, witnessing this from a distance, were left in shock.

"What just happened?"

"If I'm not mistaken, Jean just killed Charles."

"Are we in an illusion? How could Jean kill the Professor?"

At a distance, Nick Fury reloaded his weapon with a fresh magazine.

"Everyone, I'm afraid this isn't over yet."

Hearing this, the others immediately became more alert but hesitated to attack. Jean's overwhelming power had been all too clear a moment ago.

She had taken down Apocalypse alone, clearly stronger than him. No one felt ready to face such a powerful Jean, especially after her sudden betrayal. They were unsure what had driven her to do this.

Seeing their hesitation, Erik quickly explained.

"When Charles and I found Jean, she had lost control of her powers, causing the cars in her neighborhood to levitate and killing several people."

"After examining her, Charles discovered that Jean had two personalities—one was the normal, kind Jean, and the other was a powerful but malevolent persona."

"With her cooperation, Charles sealed away the darker personality. But to kill Apocalypse, he had to release that darker side, and now it's taken control of her!"

Hearing this, the others felt a surge of dread.

Could it be that in order to destroy one evil, they had unleashed an even worse one?

After a moment's hesitation, Nick Fury made a decision, "Everyone, attack together! Otherwise, we'll have another Apocalypse on our hands!"

Hearing his command, Hulk immediately charged forward.

"Hulk smash!"

Jean glanced briefly at Hulk, then flew up, releasing a wave of Phoenix energy in his direction.

"Argh…"

In an instant, Hulk was blown back, his flesh seared off, exposing green, bloodied muscles beneath.

But with his powerful healing factor, Hulk soon recovered. However, looking up at the airborne Jean, he felt a pang of helplessness.

"Hulk....hate flying enemies."

"Same here."

Emil joined Hulk, feeling an odd kinship.

As land-based combat experts, facing these airborne foes made them feel utterly powerless. No matter how high they jumped, it wasn't enough; their targets could always dodge, making them easy targets.

Tony Stark, watching Hulk and Emil from the side, smirked and raised his hand, firing a repulsor blast.

*Zap!*

The red energy shot out, only to be effortlessly blocked by Jean's Phoenix aura. But it did succeed in catching her attention, as she turned to Tony.

Raising her hand, she unleashed a torrent of Phoenix energy.

"Boom…"

The ground around Tony was stripped away, scorched by the intense red aura, leaving a trench three feet deep.

Tony's armor, already weakened, now had only a thin layer of vibranium left. Seeing this, Hulk rushed forward, grabbing Tony and leaping to safety.

*Thud*

Landing hard, Tony snapped back to reality, looking at his barely intact armor with relief.

"Thanks. If it weren't for you, I'd be dust by now."

"Hulk…"

After a single attack on Tony, Jean shifted her focus back to Erik, launching an even stronger assault.

Her Phoenix energy radiated out, reducing the ground around her to ashes and expanding outward.

The area formed a ten-meter-wide crater, and Erik, with Lorna's help, barely managed to fend off the assault.

Seeing what had happened to Tony, the others hesitated to attack.

Unlike Apocalypse, whose intent to rule the world was clear, they had no idea what Jean wanted now, making them reluctant to engage with a do-or-die mindset.

As Erik struggled to hold off the attack, he called out to her, "Jean, we have no animosity. Why are you attacking me?"

"I want to kill! Kill everyone!"

"But why, Jean? Why are you doing this?"

"There is no reason!"

The dark persona cared nothing for explanations or motives, only for destruction.

Hearing this, not only Erik, but everyone present felt a chill. It was a clear villain's declaration.

Without hesitation, Nick Fury raised his electro-magnetic rifle and pulled the trigger.

*Rat-tat-tat*

The bullets didn't even reach Jean, disintegrating in her Phoenix aura. Natasha and Barton's attacks suffered the same fate, unable to touch her.

At this point, Jean appeared more terrifying than Apocalypse, and everyone felt a bitter sense of despair.

*Rumble!*

As the Phoenix's power surged, the ground under her influence expanded to a diameter of over fifty meters, forcing everyone to retreat further.

In this dire moment, Erik remembered the three adamantium rods and began searching where Apocalypse had vanished.

But his face fell when he realized that the rods had disappeared.

*Whizz!*

Just as everyone was at a loss, a bullet whizzed in from afar.

"Whizz! Whizz! Whizz!*

Then came the second and third bullets, piercing through Jean's Phoenix aura and striking her body and limbs.

"Uh?"

Jean's body was instantly severed at the waist, with her limbs blown apart as well.

"Aahhhhhhhhhhhh!"

She screamed in pain as she plummeted to the ground.

Unlike Apocalypse, she didn't have a regeneration ability, although the Phoenix Force could still potentially revive her.

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