Outside the dam base at Alkali Lake.
At that moment, the massive dam, which had been operating for decades, was covered at some unknown point in a dense web of cracks.
Behind it was a nearly hundred-meter drop in water level, holding an immense volume of water measured in the billions of cubic meters.
The crushing pressure kept battering the already failing structure. As time passed, thin streams of lake water had begun to seep through the cracks, and the fractures only widened further under the relentless erosion.
This colossal structure looked ready to collapse at any second.
"No good. The vertical thrusters in the power system are still offline."
Inside the Blackbird, Ororo frowned as she kept trying to operate the controls manually, but likely because of the emergency landing earlier, the system remained completely unresponsive.
"The engine control system is shot!"
From the copilot's seat, Scott roared as he slammed the restart controls over and over. "We've lost power!"
Dozens of people inside the cabin, including Professor X, wore grim expressions, glancing back anxiously from time to time at the dam that was on the verge of collapse.
The dam would not hold much longer. If the Blackbird still could not get airborne by then, there would be only one end waiting for them.
Bang!
Rumble!
A deafening sound of collapse suddenly erupted from inside the dam. With a thunderous roar, the massive structure finally gave way under the overwhelming water pressure, and the lake blasted open a breach in its body.
As the gap widened, the roaring lake water instantly lost all restraint and surged wildly downstream in a devastating torrent, drowning everything in its path without mercy.
Downstream, deep in the forest, flocks of birds were startled into flight while countless animals began fleeing in panic.
"Oh no..."
A sudden sense of danger rose in Jean's heart, and her brow tightened instantly.
Just now, she had clearly felt the flood rushing closer. She looked at Scott, who had snatched the communicator from Logan's hand to call Fenris for help while frantically trying to repair the Blackbird, then glanced at everyone else in the cabin - the Professor, Logan, Ororo...
"Goodbye, everyone."
Feeling that mysterious power inside her surging higher and higher, Jean let out a miserable laugh, then limped down the boarding ramp with absolute resolve.
"Damn it! Why does the communicator have to break right now?!"
Hearing only static on the other end, Scott hurled it aside and turned toward Ororo in the pilot's seat. "What about your side?"
"No good!"
Ororo's hands moved even faster over the controls. "We need some kind of outside force, or this thing isn't getting off the ground!"
"Jean!"
The Professor suddenly frowned.
"What's wrong with Jean?" Logan and Scott both turned at the same time.
"She went outside." The Professor suddenly fell silent.
He had already guessed what Jean intended to do.
"What?"
Scott's face changed instantly. Without hesitation, he shoved Logan aside and sprinted toward the rear of the cabin.
Bang!
The boarding ramp sealed shut, cutting him off completely.
By then, Jean Grey was already outside the Blackbird. Looking at Scott rushing toward her, she did not hesitate for even a second before thrusting out a hand and seizing control of the entire aircraft.
Her immense telekinesis erupted in an instant, and the massive jet shuddered as she forcibly lifted it into the air.
At the same time, with that external force supporting it, the engines restarted, and the exhaust slowly began to glow.
"Jean..."
Feeling the Blackbird trembling violently as it struggled to rise again, Scott pressed himself against the window, staring in despair at Jean standing alone on the ground, both hands raised high as she desperately held up the aircraft.
"Goodbye, Scott."
Through telepathy, Jean's final whisper came softly through the Professor's mouth.
Not far away, a wall of floodwater dozens of meters high came roaring toward them like a moving barrier of destruction, carrying the crushing force of a landslide and crashing straight toward Jean.
"No!"
Scott's eyes split wide. He watched in utter despair as Jean was about to be swallowed by the flood, tears spilling uncontrollably down his face.
Boom!
Just as Jean split off one hand and tried to force the raging flood apart with telekinesis, buying the Blackbird one last chance to escape, a tall figure suddenly dropped from the sky in a blur too fast for anyone to see clearly and slammed down hard, landing with perfect precision right in front of her.
"Hah!"
As the surging flood was about to come crashing down in a world-swallowing wave, Fenris gritted his teeth, rolled his shoulders, then slowly pushed both hands upward.
In that instant, a blinding golden light burst out from his body, spiraling skyward in a column of radiant energy.
The rushing flood was instantly swallowed by that power. Under the high-speed rotation, the overwhelming torrent was ripped apart layer by layer, and in the blink of an eye, a giant waterspout connecting earth and sky took shape with terrifying force.
The flood still raged downward all around them, but at the center of the howling current, a vast open space appeared beneath the protection of the waterspout.
"Fenris?"
Seeing the figure who had suddenly appeared in front of her, Jean's expression changed at once. "Fenris, go! Get out of here! You'll die!"
"The flood will drown you completely!"
She had chosen to sacrifice herself because she could already feel that power inside her spilling out endlessly. Saving everyone while also preventing that terrifying, out-of-control force from hurting anyone else was the only choice she saw.
So when she saw Fenris suddenly appear and stand in front of her at a moment like this, Jean felt moved, but she still urged him on in panic.
"Fenris is here!"
"Look! The waterspout!"
"It's Fenris's magic!"
Inside the Blackbird, just as everyone had fallen into absolute despair, Fenris dropping from the sky at the last possible second instantly blew away every shadow in their hearts.
"Fenris! I love you!!"
Scott especially, who had thought he was about to lose Jean, nearly broke down in tears when he saw that tall back standing there. In those deadened eyes, the light of hope flared to life once more.
"Come on!"
"Fenris!"
Boom!
But Fenris's magic was worlds apart from that of the Sorcerer Supreme. He had no spare attention to answer their cries. Instead, he threw out another burst of power with everything he had, feeding it into the waterspout.
"That's as far as I can take it..."
"But this waterspout probably won't last even twenty seconds."
Fenris lowered his hands, and the circling golden energy was already dimming at a visible rate.
At his current level, this was already his limit.
Looking at Jean's anxious expression, he could see golden-red destructive power beginning to spill out from her body uncontrollably in waves. Fenris immediately grabbed her, stopping her from continuing to force that power out of herself.
"Jean, I'll be fine. This flood can't kill me. Stop pushing yourself."
"I know you can fly. Protect yourself first. I'll save the jet."
There was no time to waste. Fenris yanked off his coat.
If magic failed, that was fine. Godzilla was his real trump card anyway.
Roooar!
With a roar of release, Fenris's body rapidly expanded, swelling to over four meters tall in the blink of an eye.
Without Jean's support, the Blackbird, its power not yet fully restored, had already started sinking again. Fenris took one huge step forward and locked both claws onto the jet.
"Scott!"
Fenris roared.
"Get ready to restart the engines, and tell everybody to hold on tight!"
(End of Chapter)
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