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Void wasnât about to just stand there and take hits without thinking. In an instant, he saw the crux of his predicamentâthen with a whoosh, he shot straight into the sky.
Superman could certainly pursue him and continue the fight, but Quicksilver, as a speedster, was at a disadvantage. His abilities required solid footing to fully function; liquid surfaces were barely manageable, but aerial combat was completely outside his domain.
Wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth, the wounds in Voidâs body and mouth healed in an instant. Looking down from above, his arrogance undiminished, he said,
"Iâm quite surprised you managed to reach this level. Thatâs worthy of praiseâbut this is where it ends."
Quicksilver moved to Supermanâs side and said,
"If Wanda creates footholds, I can fight in the air too. Should we keep going?"
Superman glanced back at the Scarlet Witch. From the beginning until now, she had mostly stayed on the sidelines, focusing on defense and minimizing civilian casualties. It wasnât that she didnât want to join the fightâshe simply couldnât keep up with the tempo of three high-speed combatants.
If she created footholds for Quicksilver, it would restrict his movements, making his actions predictable. And that would likely get him killed.
Shaking his head, Superman rejected the unreliable idea and asked,
"Do you know what the sound barrier is?"
"Come on. Even if I didnât finish college, I still know basic physics," Quicksilver complained.
"Then if the speed of your footfalls is just right, you can use compressed air as a surface to push off from. You understand what I mean, right?"
The sound barrier refers to the accumulation and compression of air at the leading surface when displaced air cannot propagate quickly enoughâforming a discontinuity in pressure, temperature, velocity, and density.
This discontinuity creates resistance. Once broken, it produces shockwaves that propagate outward.
Even if Quicksilver wasnât an expert in aerodynamics, he understood this much. And with a quick turn of thought, he grasped why Superman brought it up now.
Quicksilver asked in astonishment,
"Is that even possible?"
"If you canât do it, then itâs not," Superman replied. Then he angled upward and shot into the sky, fists leading the charge as he rushed toward Void.
The Scarlet Witch, flying over with magic, asked,
"Do you want me to help launch you into the air for the fight?"
She could flyâbut primarily for mobility, not for engaging enemies on the level of Superman or Void. She had never intended to insert herself into a battle she couldnât meaningfully affect, choosing instead to prepare and wait for the right moment.
Quicksilver was no novice in combat. Since joining forces with the X-Men, he had fought countless battles. He understood the drawbacks of relying on chaos magic to take him airborne.
Against ordinary mutants, such a combo might toy with opponents effortlessly.
But even on the ground, fighting Void required extreme cautionâone hit could send him flying. Under those conditions, taking to the air recklessly would be suicidal.
If Supermanâs method worked, he could retain both speed and freedom of movement in the airâthat was his only chance to keep up.
So Quicksilver shook his head, declining his sisterâs offer.
"Iâll try another way first. You keep supporting from the perimeterâand set up magical traps. If you can catch him, even slowing him for a split second would help a lot."
With that, he burst into motion.
He didnât run along building walls, nor did he try to leap from the closest point to Void. He wasnât even attempting to disrupt airflow.
Quicksilver simply sprinted along the streets of Manhattan, adjusting his stride.
For a top-tier speedster like him, theory could guideâbut talent was what truly carried him to the peak.
Just a few steps in, combining Supermanâs hint with his own instincts, Quicksilverâs feet began to feel resistance from the air barrier.
He didnât try to break through it. Even though his body could withstand supersonic speeds without injury, breaking the barrier wasnât what he needed.
Instead, he pulled his leg back just before crossing that thresholdâand stepped again.
Then a second step. A third.
Having found the trick, his running path lifted off the ground, angling upward as he began to run on air.
"Ha! Sentry, take this!" Quicksilver shouted excitedly, landing a supersonic punch into Voidâs side, bending his midair body like a cooked lobster.
Superman didnât waste the opportunity. Clasping his hands together, he smashed down from above, hammering Void into the ground and creating a massive crater.
At the same time, the Scarlet Witchâs long-prepared trap finally activated. A mass of red-black, mud-like energy engulfed Void within the crater, forming a sphere that tightly sealed him inside.
Her success seemed to trigger somethingâlayer upon layer of magical barriers reinforced the prison, as if determined to trap him there forever.
Only then did Superman realize that many of those hiding nearby were renowned figures from the magical worldâreal practitioners, not the charlatans often seen on television chasing fame.
Much like how the Scarlet Witch had been summoned, this gathering was likely called by the Sorcerer Supreme. As the leading figure of Earthâs magical dimension, he naturally knew who truly had the skillâand wouldnât summon the unqualified or the faint-hearted to such a battlefield.
But...
Could magic really contain Void?
Before that question could be answered, a concussive optic beam shot down from a nearby rooftopâstriking Void with perfect accuracy as he struggled within the prison.
And shattering the magical barrier in the process.
The X-Men had finally re-entered the battlefieldâalbeit in a way that drew everyoneâs irritation.
The one responsible for that ill-timed attack was, of course, Cyclops. Hovering in the air, Storm was gathering clouds and lightning, preparing a massive strikeâbut her wind-up time was far too long for a fight like this, and it wouldnât stop Void anyway.
Alongside them was Professor X, seated in his wheelchair. Using telepathy, he linked the minds of everyone presentâincluding Supermanâseeking to understand the battle and coordinate their efforts.
All of them became targets for Void.
If he got close, not a single one of them would escape his grasp.
Fortunately, someone stood in his wayâ
Jean Grey.
A mutant wielding the power of the Phoenix.
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