"I don't like men," Saitama said flatly.
The directness made Apocalypse blank out for a beat—then he laughed. "It doesn't matter. Soon you won't be able to resist at all."
He shut his eyes and rose toward the upper sky.
Running? Saitama frowned and sprang after him—only for a figure in black armor and a black mask to bar his path, radiating ill omen.
"Do not approach my master."
Bang!
It felt like slamming into a steel wall—only worse. If it'd been steel, Saitama would've shredded it. But this was the Scarlet Witch; the blunt, kinetic shock she released was among the most violent in this world. The rebound hurled Saitama away, and Paris suffered yet another "aftershock."
By the time he gathered himself, he'd punched down to some unknown depth underground.
"Tch… this is—"
[Warning! Warning! Warning!]
…The System?
"What happened?"
[Mutant population within this world is rapidly decreasing. Current survival ratio: 47%… 46%… 45%…]
"What?!"
Saitama clawed back to the surface—and froze.
White lights glimmered across the sky, converging by the tens of thousands into ten visible points above. Their sources…
One glance at Professor X below—his body involuntarily emitting threads of light—and Saitama understood.
Apocalypse was siphoning the power of mutants worldwide.
[Apocalypse has absorbed the abilities of over 60% of the world's mutants. If this continues and the total number of living mutants drops below five thousand, this world will no longer be classified as an X-Men world. Repeat: below five thousand mutants remaining and this world will cease to be defined as an X-Men world.]
So I have to end him before he finishes draining everyone.
Saitama looked up at the heart of that white radiance. "I'm coming, Apocalypse!"
"It's useless!" Apocalypse's voice rolled like thunder. "I've absorbed over a million powers! What can you do against me?"
He pointed to the heavens. Black clouds clenched shut, and a spear of lightning hurled down.
Saitama planted a foot on the bolt midair, flipped with the recoil, and drove straight for Apocalypse. They met with a crack that shook the clouds.
Apocalypse's face changed. Impossible.
In the span of a heartbeat he'd tried everything—iced Saitama's forearms, layered debuffs to weaken his physique, even neural shocks to disrupt his balance. Saitama never slowed, and his fist still came straight for Apocalypse's face.
"The dignity of a god is inviolable!"
Bellowing, Apocalypse funneled all power forward and took the punch head-on.
He fell like a meteor.
Saitama wouldn't let him go this time. He tapped the air and streaked after him—two fireballs clawing across the sky toward Paris.
A pillar of light the width of a cathedral roared up from the city, so bright some Christians fell to their knees, convinced the Last Judgment had begun. It was Apocalypse, raking heaven with the strongest beam from his eyes—"Infinite Line."
The blast knocked Saitama skyward again. Apocalypse slammed a palm to the earth.
"Absolute Zero!"
Cold surged up in a devouring wave. In the air, Saitama was swallowed and frozen solid in a single glittering mass.
"Die, fool!" Apocalypse howled. "After I kill you, I will cultivate the perfect vessel with your X-gene!"
Energy gathered into his hands and shaped itself into a towering blade—Psylocke's signature, magnified to obscene levels in Apocalypse's grip.
"Hand over your X-gene!"
Below, Professor X watched with tight lips. A day earlier, he'd wished someone—anyone—would stop Saitama. Now, Apocalypse was ten thousand times the threat. Around the world, people stared at their screens. Neither of these men looked "good," but Apocalypse was obviously the villain. Saitama… a shoddy counterfeit hero, maybe—but a hero was still a hope.
Please win.
Please.
He's our last chance.
Status crawled across a corner of every broadcast.
"Update: remaining mutant ratio—five percent… four percent… three percent…"
"…Tch." Saitama exhaled through his nose and the ice around him exploded outward in shards. Apocalypse was already on him with the blade raised high.
"Apocalypse, right…? I wanted a proper fight with you." Saitama drew his fist back. "But at this rate, I'll have to end it by cheating."
"If you've got speeches to make, make them now, idiot!" Apocalypse roared, bringing the sword down.
(End of Chapter)
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