Shaw Industries Underground Hangar – Salem
The smell of smoke and burning steel filled the air. Sparks rained from the ceiling as the hangar shook under the strain of the reactor.
Elsa fired again. The Bloodflare Rounds hissed as they left the barrel, each one screaming like a living thing. When they struck Shaw, the impact bloomed into bursts of red-white fire that clung to his skin, searing through his absorption field.
Shaw roared, slamming his fist into the floor, sending a shockwave across the hangar. The blast ripped through cables and shattered glass around them, but Elsa and Felicia stood firm.
Felicia smirked, flipping over a falling beam. "Looks like your little science project's finally paying off!"
Elsa reloaded smoothly, the mag locking in with a sharp click. She muttered under her breath, "Yeah, and it only took a kiss from Dante to get his blood."
Felicia, too busy fighting, only caught part of it. "Dante what?"
Elsa shook her head quickly, hiding the faint blush that crept up her face. "Nothing."
She fired two more rounds. The bullets tore through Shaw's harness, rupturing one of the conduits feeding him Hellfire from the reactor. The red glow along his veins flickered — unstable.
"Impossible!" Shaw's voice broke into a demonic snarl. "You can't fight evolution!"
Felicia lunged forward, claws blazing. "Guess you're overdue for extinction, then!"
She spun midair, slashing through a guard's weapon before planting both feet squarely into Shaw's chest. The hit drove him back into the console, sparks exploding around them.
The floor trembled. The Sentinel's reactor core pulsed faster, the Hellfire beam flickering erratically.
Elsa steadied herself. "He's losing control."
"Good," Felicia said, flicking ash off her claws. "Let him choke on it."
Shaw's laughter echoed through the smoke — low and distorted, half-human, half-abomination. His body began absorbing the leaking energy from the ruptured conduit, his skin turning molten at the edges.
"You think you're winning?" he growled. "I am beyond your reach!"
He threw his arms wide. Energy surged through the room, Hellfire erupting in pillars that twisted upward, licking the ceiling.
Elsa shielded her eyes as the floor split beneath them. The Sentinel's chest reactor blazed to life, the Hellfire beam above intensifying until it painted the entire chamber red.
The hangar burned.
Hellfire poured from the ruptured conduits, crawling across the walls like veins of molten gold. The air itself seemed to scream.
In the middle of it all stood one man, feeding off the unstable energy like a madman.
Shaw's containment harness was gone, his chest split open, veins pulsing with wild light. The energy inside him wasn't stable anymore — it surged in jagged bursts, flickering from crimson to gold.
Elsa reloaded her pistol, sliding in one last Bloodflare Round.
She glanced up at Shaw, who now glowed like a living furnace, veins bulging with molten light.
"You call this evolution?" she said, her tone sharp and unmistakably British. "You look less like the next stage of humanity and more like a phone that's about to blow from overcharging. Hardly inspiring."
She fired.
The bullet hit him square in the chest, sinking deep before detonating in a halo of red-white light.
For a second, Shaw didn't move.
Then his body arched, the Hellfire within him surging out through every wound. The floor cracked beneath him, light spilling through the seams.
Felicia shielded her face. "What's happening to him?"
Elsa stepped back, eyes narrowing. "He's overloading — the world's most expensive short circuit."
Shaw stumbled forward, clutching his chest. His skin blistered, glowing from within, yet his grin didn't fade.
"As I told you before…" he rasped, voice barely holding shape, "…there is no stopping what is already in motion."
Elsa shouted toward Felicia, who was still near him. "If I were you, I'd move. Now!"
Without hesitation, Felicia sprinted across the platform just as the light inside Shaw's body flared to a blinding white.
Then he exploded.
The shockwave tore through the hangar, flattening consoles and sending cultists and scientists flying. Felicia managed to roll as the blast wave hit, landing on her feet while Elsa ducked behind a reinforced crate, the heat licking across her coat.
When the smoke cleared, there was nothing left of Sebastian Shaw — only scorched metal and the echo of his laughter fading into the roar of the reactor above.
Felicia coughed, pushing herself up. "Tell me that's over."
Elsa looked toward the beam still stabbing through the ceiling, its glow now twisting — unstable, pulsing faster. She ran to the nearest console, fingers flying across the controls, trying to abort the process — only to see the status light flash green.
PROCESS COMPLETE
CORE: 100% CHARGED
Her stomach dropped. "No… he wasn't lying."
The entire hangar began to tremble. The Sentinel's chest reactor cracked open, molten light spilling out.
A deep, mechanical growl rolled through the chamber as the machine began to move.
Panels along the hangar walls snapped open as the Sentinel rose from the platform, steam and Hellfire pouring from every joint. The machine's eyes ignited — twin suns burning molten gold.
Felicia hissed under her breath. "That's… bigger than I expected."
Elsa chambered her last Bloodflare Round. "And angrier."
The Sentinel's head tilted toward them, locking on with a hum that vibrated through the floor. The reactor in its chest burned like a miniature sun.
Felicia gritted her teeth. "Please tell me you've got a plan, babe."
Elsa aimed her rocket launcher, deadpan. "Plan? Yes. One that works? Not bloody likely."
All of a sudden—
Ding.
The elevator at the far end of the hangar chimed politely, cutting through the chaos like it belonged in another world.
Both women froze and turned toward the sound. The metal doors slid open with a hiss, revealing a man leaning casually against the frame, coat flaring slightly in the heat.
Dante stepped out, dual pistols spinning once before holstering at his sides. The X-Men followed behind him, weapons ready — Storm's eyes glowed white, Cyclops's visor already charged, Colossus's skin gleaming in the crimson light, and Illyana's Soulsword blazing bright gold.
Dante grinned. "I hope we're not too late… are we?"
Elsa blinked, lowering her launcher onto her shoulder. "You took the elevator?"
He shrugged. "What? The stairs looked boring."
Felicia snorted. "Only you would show up fashionably late to the apocalypse."
"Hey," Dante said, drawing Rebellion and resting it on his shoulder, "I like to make an entrance. And it looks like you left me a real mess."
Cyclops stepped forward, visor humming. "We can talk later. That thing's about to fire."
Dante cracked his neck and spun Rebellion once, the blade igniting in a streak of Hellfire. "Let's rock, big boy."