Professor Xâs idea was good in theory, but unfortunately, most of the people on the battlefield werenât X-Men personally trained by him.
The moment he brushed against Supermanâs mind, he immediately withdrew. The lesson from last time had been far too painful. He had wanted to connect with the minds of the mages and witches as wellâ
But they instinctively shut him out.
After all, anyone personally summoned by the Sorcerer Supreme was no ordinary figure. They werenât people whose minds could casually be linked to, and they certainly had no interest in letting others peer into their thoughts.
Professor X could have forced his way in if he wanted to, but that would amount to infighting among allies on a mental level. Realizing their resistance, he stopped instead of pressing the issue.
That bit of self-awareness spared him from being cursed out by half the magical community.
After all, they had just spent tremendous effort reinforcing the prison trapping Void, only for Cyclops to shatter it with a single blast. If Xavier had dared invade their minds after that, getting yelled at would have been the mildest consequence.
To be fair, though, even if Cyclops hadnât fired first, the magical prison probably wouldnât have held Void for long. To him, it was as fragile as an eggshell.
Cyclops knew that too. His thought process had simply been: strike hard at the instant Void was restrained.
What he hadnât expected was that his attack would amount to little more than a scratchâleaving him to take all the blame for ruining the trap.
---
Blocked outside Jean Greyâs shield, Void didnât remain locked in a stalemate against the host of the Phoenix Force. They separated almost immediately upon contact.
Superman didnât ease off just because the X-Men had arrived. If anything, he attacked even more aggressively, refusing to give Void any breathing room.
Because he noticed something important:
The X-Men hadnât come in full force, and aside from Professor X, every single one of them was injured.
Combined with what Scarlet Witch had said earlierâthat the X-Men had already suffered a defeatâit wasnât hard to understand why so many were absent.
Then again, against Sentry or Void, the weak had no place on the battlefield.
Since Superman moved, Quicksilver naturally didnât stay idle either.
Though he had mastered the ability to run on air, he was still inexperienced with it. He lacked the freedom and fluidity of natural fliers like Superman and Void.
So Quicksilverâs movements required planning and preparation, making them more predictable. It was still far better than relying on Scarlet Witchâs magical footholdsâbut in Voidâs eyes, it remained a path to death.
Void focused on evading Supermanâs punches while staying away from the mutant empowered by the Phoenix Force. He deliberately tanked several of Quicksilverâs attacks.
That gave the newly airborne speedster a dangerous sense of confidence, making him feel as if the battle would end by his hand.
But it was all a trap.
The moment Quicksilver recklessly tried to punch Voidâs head clean off and finish the fightâ
Void caught his fist.
Quicksilverâs bones and muscles were superhuman, but they still couldnât compare to Voidâs raw strength. Void intended to cripple him on the spotâ
Yet he was ultimately forced to fling Quicksilver away to avoid the next incoming attack.
Besides Supermanâs usual iron-fisted assault, Phoenixâs clasped hands sliced toward Voidâs arm like a pair of impossibly sharp blades, forcing him to release his grip.
At the same time, she swept Quicksilver into her arms, sending them both flying backward.
---
Under normal circumstances, that brief delay would have been enough for Void to spew more psychological warfare.
But Superman was right there.
And he wasnât merely watchingâhe was all over him.
The instant he found an opening: punch, palm strike, kick.
Then he grabbed Void by the blue cape, yanked him back, and repeated the combo.
Two rounds werenât enough.
Superman intercepted Voidâs flight path, caught him again, and unleashed another brutal three-hit sequence.
Then thunder roared overhead.
Lightning rained down like a forest of divine spearsâStormâs long-charged ultimate attack had finally arrived.
But for Superman and Void, the overwhelming might of nature that ordinary people feared meant nothing.
They ignored it completely, continuing their battle with eyes fixed solely on each otherâs lethal blows.
As for the little lady nearby?
Come back after youâve learned to create black holes.
Cyclopsâs attacks needed even less explanation.
Unless he removed his visor entirely and unleashed the full spatial energy connected to his eyes in a sweeping barrage, he simply couldnât interfere in the battle between Superman and Void.
And if Cyclops truly went all out, seriously injuring both of them wasnât impossible.
Unfortunately, Xavierâs teachings had always restrained him from truly breaking his limits. His attacks worked against ordinary enemiesâbut these two were clearly on another level.
The mutants and mages hadnât coordinated properly either. Cyclopsâs frequently misplaced shots ended up feeling more like interference than support.
Especially to the magesâmany of whom already didnât particularly respect Scarlet Witch, let alone Cyclops. Their irritation only grew.
---
Yet whether it was Void pounding Superman or Superman pounding Void, both sides felt as though they were punching heavy bags.
They hit and hit, but neither could clearly tell whether the damage was truly meaningful.
Void only sensed that Supermanâs strength was steadily increasing, inching closer and closer to some critical thresholdâand that uncertainty made him uneasy.
Superman, meanwhile, felt that no matter how hard he struck, he still wasnât causing genuine damage. He wasnât the real Superman, after all.
That uncertainty made him uneasy too.
And as their power levels escalated, collateral damage became increasingly unavoidable.
They smashed into skyscrapers, dragged each other through building after building, reducing structures to rubble in their wake.
Ordinary fighters could use the Earth itself as a weapon. Slam someone onto solid ground hard enough, and theyâd inevitably be dazed.
But for Superman and Void, the Earthâs power had become nearly irrelevant.
Destroying ten more buildings wasnât as effective as landing one solid punch to the faceâor one brutal kick to the crotch.
Still, in order to dissipate the force of incoming attacks, environmental destruction was unavoidable.
Superman tried to restrain himself.
Void did not.
Unfortunately, as Supermanâs power kept rising, even forcing himself to endure internal injuries couldnât fully prevent collateral damage.
And every destroyed environment endangered the people hiding within it.
All Superman could do was minimize the impact as much as possible.
By all logic, this imbalanceâone side attacking freely while the other fought defensivelyâshould have tilted the battle in Voidâs favor.
But the deeper Superman sank into the role, the stronger his conviction to protect became.
And somehow, his defense seemed to rise along with it.
At the same time, returning to the Kryptonian combat style of overwhelming close-quarters combat with super strength and speedâwhile fighting an opponent of equal caliberâmade Superman increasingly proficient.
Quicksilver, having rejoined the battle, continued disrupting Voidâs rhythm.
The lurking mages and Phoenix only aggravated him further.
But the worst part was the voice in his head.
The voice of Robert Reynolds.
Under Professor Xâs guidance, it was growing louder and louderâas though the coward hidden in the abyss of his mind was trying to claw his way back up and reclaim control of the body.
To become Sentry again.
Not Void.
In fury, Void deliberately took solid punches from both Superman and Quicksilver.
Using pain itself to tell Robert Reynolds:
This is not something you can endure.
Youâre just a coward who relied on overwhelmingly unfair powers to swagger before others. The real world will always contain stronger forcesâand real pain hurts.
But taking those hits wasnât only meant to intimidate Robert Reynolds within his mind.
Void also used the opportunity to break free from Superman and Quicksilverâs encirclement in one motion.
His target shifted to the greatest threat at presentâ
The man in the wheelchair.
Professor X.
---
The X-Men had been fighting since the formation of the X Department under CIA support back in 1962. From the days when Professor X could still walk to the present where he sat in a wheelchair, they had endured countless battles.
There was no way they would leave such an obvious weak point exposed for the enemy to attack.
If they didâ
It was because it was bait.
From the moment Xavier drew Voidâs attention to the instant Void launched his assault, Phoenixâdespite lacking the mobility of the speedsters presentâexecuted a brilliant castling maneuver.
She swapped positions with Xavier.
Not only protecting himâ
But also giving herself the chance to confront Void head-on.
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