Multiverse: Deathstroke
Chapter 307: Ch.306 Phoenix

Chapter 307: Ch.306 Phoenix

In the outskirts of Cairo, amidst the desert sands, Apocalypse stood with his hands behind his back, gazing at the distant buried pyramids. Ultimately, he chose the same location where he had originally constructed the pyramids. He decided to build a new city surrounding his ancient pyramid.

By this time, everyone else had prepared to return to the future in Cairo, just as planned. Only four of them remained with Apocalypse.

The excuse they used was the same: they needed to spread En Sabah Nur's faith in Cairo.

Apocalypse had easily agreed to let the others go.

Displaying divine miracles was indeed a good strategy. If those kids could bring some ordinary people to witness his display of power, it would surely make everyone submit to him willingly.

The time was right. Su Ming gestured to Rogue to remove her gloves and touch Cable.

Rogue hesitated for a moment, but Cable was quicker. He directly placed his arm in Rogue's hand.

In almost an instant, Cable appeared to lose all strength, collapsing into the sand, convulsing as Rogue absorbed his abilities. He could no longer control the techno-organic virus in his body, and half of his body became paralyzed.

Rogue's face turned red as she struggled to contain the vast energy surging within her.

With such a commotion, Apocalypse naturally noticed. Just as he turned to assess the situation, Deadpool, who had been kicked forward by Su Ming, intervened.

"Uh, buddy Apocalypse, my friend here ran out of juice. He might need a battery change. It's a messy process—gotta insert the new battery... somewhere down there. With your esteemed presence, maybe you should look away."

Apocalypse eyed Deadpool suspiciously, noting his earnest expression, then glanced at Cable, who lay in the sand.

He had a vague sense that something wasn't right—like the half-mechanical child suffering from some disease, with no clear sign of needing energy.

And the girl next to him seemed more like a hindrance than a helper.

"You all—"

Before Apocalypse could finish speaking, he felt the temperature around him rise rapidly, as a familiar red glow appeared in his field of vision.

On the distant horizon, a giant fiery bird arose, spreading its wings with an earth-shaking cry, rushing toward them at incredible speed.

The red light was so dazzling that even the sun overhead seemed pale in comparison.

"Retreat!"

Su Ming didn't waste time with words. He transformed his Godslayer sword into a whip, yanking Deadpool away from Apocalypse's side.

With his other hand, he grabbed Rogue, separating her from Cable.

When Rogue absorbs others' abilities, there's a pull that makes it hard to break free, but her strength was no match for Su Ming's. However, by breaking their contact, he became the new target of her absorption.

His promethium armor couldn't block this kind of power. Stranglehold, retreating deeper into his body to avoid the heat, left Su Ming exposed. But fortunately, with his X-Metal foundation, he could withstand Rogue's absorption as long as he didn't overwhelm her.

The Phoenix had arrived, and now their priority was to escape as quickly as possible.

"Cloak, enlarge."

Obeying his command, the magical cloak expanded, turning into a flying carpet that carried them away at high speed. Yet, the Phoenix, though it appeared distant, reached them in the blink of an eye.

"Phoenix!"

Apocalypse ground his teeth, frustrated by how every time he tasted victory, the Phoenix would appear to ruin it. Why did his subordinates always flee at the sight of the Phoenix?

But today, he had a plan to deal with the Phoenix!

The Phoenix wasn't Jean Grey. Its purpose was to destroy everything.

However, after sharing a body and personality with Jean Grey for so long, it sometimes thought it was Jean Grey, often trying to replace her entirely.

It was more like Jean's dark persona.

After Mystique and the others returned to the future, as Su Ming planned, they informed Jean Grey that Cable was in danger.

Jean, as Cable's stepmother with a complicated relationship with the Red Queen, was naturally concerned. But she had no immediate solutions, leaving her anxious, worried, and frustrated.

These emotions were exactly what the Phoenix thrived on, like a catalyst that awakened its shards within Jean. Jean couldn't replace Cable immediately, but the Phoenix could.

It seized the opportunity to take control, fully unleashing its power, tearing through time and space to reach this place.

Let the world burn!

Hovering above, its deep red eyes first spotted the unconscious Cable. It could wait a moment before dealing with him. Then it locked onto the gray-skinned figure it had recently encountered.

The two sides wasted no time and clashed immediately.

After his defeat last time, Apocalypse had learned his lesson. He hadn't been idle during his century-long slumber. He was no longer an easy target for the Phoenix, managing to maintain a strange equilibrium in the battle.

Apocalypse refused to directly confront the Phoenix, instead constantly layering protective measures on himself as he fled. He planned to shield himself like a turtle and slip away.

Yes, he had realized before that the Phoenix was invincible, but it wouldn't remain in this world for long. So as long as he kept evading its attacks, kept his defenses up, and kept running, he would survive.

That was his strategy—escape!

In the opposite direction, Su Ming and the others, riding on the flying carpet-like cloak, had put some distance between themselves and the battle. Yet, in that brief moment of delay, Deadpool had taken slightly longer to retreat and was now half-cooked.

A strange smell wafted from his overheated body, making him smell like a dirty bedsheet soaked in ammonia.

Su Ming fared better, with Stranglehold fully retreating inside him, leaving him unharmed.

Rogue, having absorbed a significant amount of energy, was also in decent shape, though her hair was slightly singed from the intense heat and flames that had nearly consumed them.

Cable was in the worst condition, with the techno-organic virus taking advantage of his weakened state.

Su Ming broke free from Rogue's grasp, allowing her to rest and recover. He then took a small piece of X-Metal from the Godslayer sword and placed it on the human side of Cable's body.

Since X-Metal had once helped Batman and Superman recover, it should be effective for mutants too—at the very least, it wouldn't let Cable die.

As expected from such a versatile energy source, Cable's condition stabilized quickly, halting the spread of the techno-organic virus. He regained consciousness, though he remained too weak to fight.

Su Ming carefully retrieved the X-Metal, weighing it to make sure he hadn't lost any of it.

The people in the Marvel universe didn't understand the significance of X-Metal. But if he returned to DC someday, he'd need to be cautious, lest anyone covet his prized possession.