Storm channeled the winds around her and from the cyclone, transforming it into a destructive beam.

"Dodge this, you cowardly dog!" She shouted and shot the beam toward Val.

* SHOOM *

* BOOM *

Val didn't dodge the beam and let it hit him.

* BANG *

Storm sneered when she saw the beam hit him and thought, 'Hah! He's a fool if he thinks he can save himse—'

The sneer on her face vanished, and her eyes widened when she realized Val was absorbing the beam effortlessly. She was dumbstruck and thought, 'H-How? H-How is this possible? The powers that my beloved Master bestowed upon me are useless against him? N-No, t-this is not p-possible!!'

* ZIIINGGG *

Val absorbed the beam completely, looked at Storm calmly, and said, "That was a cool trick, lady. But, unfortunately for you, I can absorb anything."

"And, " He smiled widely and said, "You aren't the only one with the power to change the weather."

"What?!" Storm shouted, and in front of her widened eyes, he began absorbing the cyclone above them.

* WHOOOSH *

* ZIINGGG *

* BANG *

She didn't move a muscle for the few seconds it took for Val to completely absorb the cyclone within himself and change the weather back to sunny.

"No! This can't be! My powers are unique! They ar —" Storm was going to say, but Val cut her off by gathering the accumulated energy within his hands and shooting a powerful beam at her.

* SHOOM *

Storm could feel a powerful beam emerge from Val's hands even though she couldn't see it. So, she quickly gathered the air molecules around her and created an extremely thick air before herself.

* BOOM *

"Urghh!" Storm gritted her teeth and shielded herself from the beam.

"I'll stop y-" She was going to shout but...

* BOOM *

Val fired another beam at her, which was much more powerful.

* SHOOM *

"S-Screw y-you.." Storm resisted the beam as best as she could, thinking, 'How can his attacks be so powerful? Why? How can he be this powerful?'

She glanced at him again and tried to fly away, but she was rooted to the ground as Val continually fired his beam at her from afar.

* SHOOM *

* BOOM *

* SHOOM *

* BOOM *

"Fuck!", She cursed and used both hands to shield herself from his beams. She thought, 'I-I can't keep this up for much longer!'

When she thought it was over for her, the beams stopped.

Storm panted heavily while smiling and murmured, "I-I'm o-okay..."

"No, you're not!"

Val's voice made her snap out of her reverie, and she looked up, only to see him before her, pulling his fist back without any expression.

* BANG *

* BOOOM *

Val's fist cleaved through her shield like butter, landing on her stomach.

* BOOM *

* SPLURT *

"Oof!" Storm immediately coughed up blood, and her eyes rolled back in the sockets due to her pain. The pain she experienced at that moment was higher than she had ever experienced before. She felt her insides being rearranged... in the wrong way.

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* WHOOSH *

Val watched as Storm was flung away like a rag doll, and he chased after her limp figure.

* BOOM *

* BOOM *

Storm crashed through several buildings, one by one. When she began falling down, Val grabbed her by the waist.

"Cough!" She coughed up more blood and weakly swung her fist at him.

Val calmly ducked her punch and said, "You just don't know when to give up, don't you?"

He tightened his grip on her waist and flew into more buildings, smashing her into them.

* BOOM *

* CRASH *

* BANG *

"Ah!" Storm whimpered in pain as he drilled her body through the buildings.

* BOOOM *

Sweat appeared on her face. Blood began seeping from her mouth and face, and her long purplish-white hair was covered with rubble and dust, but still, she weakly muttered, "M-Mas... Master..."

Val clicked his tongue in annoyance and flung her tattered body toward the ground.

* BANG *

Storm crashed on the ground, and a small crater formed underneath her body.

* BOOM *

Val landed beside her, grabbed her purplish-white hair, and repeatedly smashed her face on the ground.

* BANG *

* BANG *

* BANG *

He stopped, brought her bloodied face closer, and asked, "Are you done?"

"N-No..." Storm whimpered as she weakly replied.

"Okay, then," Val smiled slightly and smashed her face again.

* BANG *

* BANG *

* BANG *

He stopped after a few times, glanced at her half-dead face, and whispered in her ear, "Remember who you are, Ororo Monroe. You weren't born or raised to be a follower of a mutant. You weren't raised to be a killer or to become a Horseman of Apocalypse. Remember what you wanted from your life. Remember who you were before being dragged into a path you shouldn't have chosen. Walk the right path. Remember who you were before becoming a monster. Remember who you once were. It's not too late, Ororo. Take the step forward."

He let go of her hair and took a step backward. He watched as she began seizing, and all her injuries and wounds were healed. Then, a dark purple mist emerged from her body as her hair turned into her natural white color.

Val narrowed his eyes and gazed at the dark purple mist above Storm's body. It stayed for a few seconds before flying away.

Val sighed and looked around, thinking, 'Storm's completely free from the Seed's control, so that means two down and two more to go.'

His gaze landed on the mutants from the X-Mansion around him, helping the civilians flee, and he shouted, "Hey!"

"Huh? M-Me?" One of them pointed at herself and asked.

"Yes, you!" Val nodded, pointed at Storm, and ordered, "Take her to the Blackbird. She's broken free from Apocalypse's control, and when she wakes up, calm her down and help her, okay?"

"Y-Yes, Starlance!" The woman nodded and watched Val fly away.

* WHOOSH *

Val hovered in the air and observed his surroundings, thinking, 'Wolverine and Sabertooth are tearing up Archangel, so he's been dealt with. Storm's out of the picture. Psylocke... is getting jumped by Angel, Havok, and Banshee, and... she's out. Now, all that's left is Magneto, who's fighting with Hank and Gambit.'

* WHOOSH *

He flew toward Magneto.

* BOOM *

Magneto blocked another one of Gambit's bombs. He spotted Hank coming from his right and quickly flung a car toward him.

* BANG *

* CRASH *

Hank was flung away with the car and crashed under a pile of rubble.

Magneto glanced at him and thought, 'Sorry about that, my friend. But, I need to play my part.'

Suddenly, he spotted several cars flying at him. He raised his hands and stopped the cars when he noticed an energy beam approaching him.

* SHOOM *

He used the card around him to build a shield from the energy beam, which hit it and resulted in a massive explosion.

* KA-BOOM *

Amid the explosion, Magneto spotted Val flying toward him while firing off energy beams.

* SHOOM *

* BOOM *

Magneto used the other cars as shields from his energy beams.

* BOOM *

Val stood before Magneto as the dust settled and whispered, "Play along!"

He pulled his fist back and threw a powerful punch at Magneto.

* BANG *

But he gave Magneto enough time to dodge it, and both pretended to fight. Everywhere they fought, explosions occurred, craters formed on the ground, and several buildings were destroyed. After a few minutes of pretending, Magneto whispered, "Why are there humans along with the X-Men?"

* WHOOSH *

Val ducked a huge metal pole and attacked Magneto before replying, "They're with us. Don't attack them."

"What about Apocalypse?" Magneto asked while dodging Val's attack and retaliating with his own.

* BANG *

Val blocked it and replied, "When I give the signal, attack him from behind."

Magneto nodded, and when Val punched him, he didn't try to dodge.

* WHAM *

* BANG *

* CRASH *

Val smiled as he watched Magneto pretend to be injured heavily on the ground and flew toward Apocalypse.

* * *

Emma and Jean were tiptoeing to where Charles was inside the pyramid while the rest of the X-Men were ensuring the citizens were evacuated.

* TAP *

* TAP *

* TAP *

Jean knocked her foot with a pebble and stumbled.

"Shush!" Emma whispered, quickly hugged her, stopping her from falling, and said, "Be careful!"

"I-I'm sorry..." Jean apologized and meekly said, "It's just this place is creepy, a-and I'm just nervous, is all."

Emma rubbed her arm and gently whispered, "I understand. But I don't care about you. We need to rescue Charles. Starlance's counting on you. Everybody's counting on you. On us. So, don't screw this up, okay?"

"Okay..." Jean nodded.

"Alright, let's go," Emma said.

* TAP *

* TAP *

* TAP *

They continued roaming around the pyramid until they entered the ritual chamber and saw Charles lying in one of the altars.

"Professor!" Jean shouted and quickly flew toward Charles.

"Jean! Be careful!" Emma hissed.

"Okay..!"

She landed beside Charles and shook him, but he didn't respond to her. She gasped when she saw his bald head and quickly slapped his cheeks while pleading, "PROFESSOR! PROFESSOR CHARLES, WAKE UP, DAMMIT! SAY SOMETHING!!"

"Urghh!', Charles' eyes moved and slowly opened and weakly muttered, "Jean?"

"Yes!" She replied with slight tears, "It's me."

"Wh.. Where am I?" Charles asked as his mind was still fuzzy from the sleep.

"We're in the ritual chamber of a pyramid... And I think we should get you out of here ASAP!" Emma replied while running toward him.

"Okay, grab his hand," Emma grabbed Charles's other hand and helped Jean to bring him out of the altar.