"The Phoenix Force?"
Both Jovian and the Ultimate Sentinel realized what that constant cry echoing through the universe actually was.
It was the call of the Phoenix Force, one of the most powerful forces in existence, life and emotion transformed into ultimate power.
"Why is the Phoenix Force appearing here?"
The Ultimate Sentinel froze for a moment as his mind began calculating at high speed, trying to determine why the Phoenix Force had appeared here and why it was interfering in his battle with Jovian.
"Could it be that the constant friction and collision between the two Phoenix Force fragments attracted other pieces of the Phoenix Force from across the universe?"
After running through a series of calculations and deductions, the Ultimate Sentinel arrived at what he believed was the most likely explanation.
Jovian, unlike the Ultimate Sentinel with his supercomputer mind, did not overthink it. He had no idea why the Phoenix Force was suddenly racing in from the depths of the cosmos, but in his eyes that did not matter. What mattered was simple, if he could claim this incoming Phoenix Force, then he would absolutely be able to defeat the Ultimate Sentinel.
In an instant, Jovian turned into a streak of white light and shot toward the Phoenix Force racing for Earth at a speed approaching light itself.
"No!"
The Ultimate Sentinel knew exactly what Jovian was trying to do. He also knew that if Jovian gained the support of this new Phoenix Force, then he would never be a match for him again. If he wanted to avoid defeat, if he wanted to keep Jovian from interfering with his mission to exterminate every mutant in existence, then he had no choice but to unleash everything he had and intercept him.
The Sentinel transformed into a streak of silver light and rushed after Jovian.
Unfortunately for him, that one second of hesitation had already cost him too much. Starting later meant he had no way to catch up to Jovian.
"No choice. I'll have to use this."
The Ultimate Sentinel gave up trying to beat Jovian in a race. As long as he remained bound by physics and unable to exceed the speed of light, he would never catch him that way.
So he stopped chasing him.
He would defeat Jovian another way.
Light flared across the Ultimate Sentinel's body. In the next instant, his body was wrapped in a strange spatial distortion, and in a flash, he crossed countless star systems and arrived directly in front of the roaring Phoenix Force.
"Foolish mutant, I can teleport!"
The Ultimate Sentinel's gaze was calm and steady. Teleportation was his trump card, the kind of broken ability those foolish mutants could never match with their slow, conventional movement.
"Now let me absorb this power and wipe every mutant out of the entire multiverse!"
Looking at the vast and ultimate power floating before him in space, the Ultimate Sentinel revealed a very human smile.
He could feel it clearly. The Phoenix Force before him was far greater than the fragment inside his own body or the fragment inside Jovian. This was a force strong enough to destroy universes with ease.
"What a beautiful power. With this, I can definitely complete my mission!"
Thinking that, the Ultimate Sentinel reached out both hands toward the Phoenix Force. He intended to force that overwhelming power into his body with his own hands, then use the power of the Phoenix to erase every mutant in the multiverse.
"Come to me! Power!"
The Ultimate Sentinel roared inwardly and closed his eyes in ecstasy. He was already imagining how powerful he would become once he claimed this Phoenix Force. At that point, he could rampage across the multiverse, slaughtering mutants wherever he found them. And once every mutant had been erased, he would use this magnificent power to create a brand-new world.
But just as he was lost in that fantasy, the boundless power he had imagined never came.
"What happened?"
The Ultimate Sentinel frowned and opened his eyes.
Standing right in front of him was a broad-shouldered man in a black-and-white battle suit, smiling at him.
"Surprise, motherfucker!"
The man smiled faintly, and the words exploded inside the Ultimate Sentinel's mind.
"That's impossible. How did you get in front of me?"
The Ultimate Sentinel stared at the mutant who had been trading blows with him this whole time, shocked beyond belief.
"Idiot. Did you really think you were the only one who could teleport?"
The man let out a scornful laugh as his body fully merged with the vast Phoenix Force around him.
Then, at the instant his body and the Phoenix Force became one, the cry of a phoenix spread across the entire universe.
Every living being in creation heard it thunder in their ears.
"Apocalypse has merged with the Phoenix Force. My task is complete."
Back on Earth, the moment Jean heard that most powerful phoenix cry in history, she spoke to Charles, Erik, and the others. She knew that Jovian had successfully fused with the Phoenix Force, and that the crisis engulfing the entire X-Men universe was finally about to end.
"What do you mean, your task is complete?"
Charles had no idea what Jean was talking about. Ever since a moment ago, her whole state had been off. She kept saying things that sounded like nonsense no one else could understand.
Jean did not answer him. She simply closed her eyes and collapsed to the ground as if she had passed out.
"Hey! Jean, are you okay?"
Charles caught her, pulled the helmet from her head, and asked anxiously.
"Huh? I… what happened to me?"
"What exactly happened?"
Lying in Charles's arms, Jean slowly opened her hazy, confused eyes after a moment.
"Jean, you don't remember anything?"
Holding her, Charles asked in confusion.
Jean's face first showed pure bewilderment. Then it was as if something suddenly came back to her, and her expression changed. Grabbing Charles's arm, she asked nervously, "Right, the Phoenix Force, was all of it pulled out of my body?"
"Yes. Mr. Apocalypse removed the Phoenix Force from your body."
Charles looked at Jean's panic-stricken face with a hint of sympathy and nodded.
"That's great…"
"I think I fell asleep earlier. I had a dream. In that dream, my power went out of control. I killed you. I killed Raven. I killed people I never should have killed…"
Jean covered her face, deeply upset.
"But now it's okay. My power is gone. I'm finally free."
The moment Jean realized the Phoenix Force inside her had been completely drawn out by Jovian, she felt an enormous weight lift from her chest. All the pressure that had been crushing her heart vanished in an instant.
"It's okay, Jean. Everything is going to get better."
Charles held his sweet, pitiful student tightly and gently patted her back, soothing the anxiety raging inside her.
"The Phoenix Force that had been living inside Jean has finally disappeared. Jean no longer has to fear falling into darkness and becoming Dark Phoenix. Truly a cause for celebration. And now, in the cosmos, the battle between the Ultimate Sentinel, a threat to the entire multiverse, and the spacetime traveler has also reached its conclusion. After the spacetime traveler absorbed all the Phoenix Force in this universe, a new White Phoenix of the Crown was born. And now, let us turn our attention to the battle between the spacetime traveler and the Ultimate Sentinel…"
Behind Jean and Charles stood a tall bald man with a shining head, watching the outcome unfold. Then he slowly raised his head and looked into the universe, turning his attention toward Jovian, who was absorbing the endless Phoenix Force and preparing to settle the fight with the Ultimate Sentinel once and for all.
When that vast Phoenix Force was completely absorbed by Jovian, it felt for a moment as though time itself had frozen across the universe.
In a dark and desolate space, only the Ultimate Sentinel, who still retained a tiny fragment of the Phoenix Force inside him, remained conscious.
"It's over."
Jovian slowly opened his eyes. White light seemed to shine within them. The limitless power coursing through him made him seem as though he stood above every law in the universe.
"No! You can't do this! The disappearance of mutants is inevitable!"
The Ultimate Sentinel looked at Jovian, now godlike in his eyes, and true fear appeared on his face.
"Your disappearance is even more inevitable."
Jovian shook his head, and in the next second, infinite power surged out of him.
The phoenix screamed in fury. As Jovian grew serious, that cry roared louder and louder in the Ultimate Sentinel's ears, violently stirring every emotion the Sentinel had gained through the Phoenix Force.
When the Phoenix fragment inside the Ultimate Sentinel encountered a far stronger Phoenix Force, and felt the faint but unmistakable hunger radiating from the Phoenix Force inside Jovian, the hunger to devour it completely, fear finally appeared inside the Phoenix fragment within the Sentinel.
That fear rapidly swelled inside the Ultimate Sentinel, devouring the last of his reason.
"No! No! Don't do this!"
"Ahhh!!!"
In the end, despite the Ultimate Sentinel's desperate pleas, Jovian used the Phoenix Force within him to grind him into countless particles of dust.
Then, after the Ultimate Sentinel had been completely erased, a pure fragment of Phoenix Force emerged from what remained of him. It floated in the air and chirped continuously at Jovian.
"Come here."
When Jovian saw that exceptionally pure fragment of Phoenix Force, he simply crooked a finger.
The next second, it flew eagerly into Jovian's body.
"Congratulations, traveler across time and space. You lived up to everyone's hopes and finally defeated the detestable enemy threatening the X-Men universe!"
After Jovian had completely dealt with the Sentinel, the bald man in ancient Greek robes with the shining scalp appeared before him once again, offering his praise for defeating the Sentinel.
"This was all part of your plan, wasn't it, Watcher?"
After absorbing the fragment of Phoenix Force that had come out of the Ultimate Sentinel, Jovian suddenly understood many things.
The whole mess had started because, in one X-Men: First Class universe, he had killed Sebastian Shaw, the Black King, ahead of schedule and wiped out an entire Nazi force. That had led to Magneto, Erik Lehnsherr, being taken in by Allied soldiers while he was still very young. Because of that, the young Magneto never developed the way he was supposed to, and he and Professor X, Charles Xavier, never crossed paths at all. Without Magneto's help, Wolverine was naturally unable to reverse the future, and the Sentinels went on a genocidal rampage that wiped out every mutant in that universe…
Just as the system had warned Jovian from the beginning, everything he did in the MCU had the potential to create entirely new parallel worlds. One wrong move could lead to a catastrophe threatening the whole multiverse.
And the Watcher had approached Jovian precisely because he had observed that disaster taking shape. He wanted Jovian to correct what never should have happened.
The Watcher chuckled and shook his head after hearing Jovian's accusation.
"Come now, dear Mr. Jovian. I'm a Watcher. We only observe, we never interfere."
Jovian laughed when he heard that.
"Yeah, right. I totally buy that. You bald bastard are shady as hell."
The Watcher smiled helplessly at that.
"Dear Mr. Jovian, where will you go next?"
"Can't you see that yourself?"
Instead of answering directly, Jovian threw the question back at him.
The Watcher shook his head.
"Mr. Jovian, we Watchers aren't omnipotent. There are things we cannot see."
He could not see Jovian's future, his past, or even alternate versions of Jovian in parallel worlds. Worse still, if he lost focus for even a moment, Jovian could vanish from his sight entirely. The best way to keep observing Jovian was to stay by his side without ever leaving him.
"I see."
After hearing that, Jovian got a decent sense of the limits of the Watcher's observational powers.
"In that case, Watcher, why don't we go take a look around together?"
The moment Jovian invited him, the Watcher was overjoyed. He had not been lying before. He truly had never seen anyone like Jovian, and he was intensely curious about him. Being able to follow him and observe him up close would satisfy his desire to study the unknown more than anything else.
"That would be perfect!"
Looking at the remarkably simple-minded Watcher in front of him, Jovian let a slight smile touch his lips. Then he snapped his fingers, and a golden portal slowly formed before him.
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