"What do you think is the best place for us to battlefield?"
It was the question sitting like a weight in everyone's mind. Whatever happened next, the battle could not take place in a city… not unless they wanted to bury half the world beneath the rubble.
"Arctic?" Someone offered.
"Desert?"
"Mountain region?" another countered.
Suggestions flew one after another, each with its reasoning, each with its flaws.
Icy terrain would hinder some fighters, empower others. Urban landscapes were off-limits. Forests would burn instantly.
Oceans were out of the question.
The debate was going in circles until Magneto stepped forward.
"We're thinking too small," His eyes gleaming with quiet certainty. "Every natural terrain favors someone and disadvantages someone else. So…" He lifted a hand.
"We create our own."
"…" A realization swept the room.
Soren nodded slowly. "A constructed battlefield… designed exactly for what we need."
"With my magnetic control," Magneto continued, "I can raise metal from beneath the earth and shape it however we wish."
"Flat plains, fortified barriers, elevated vantage points, an arena built for our strengths, not theirs."
It was the perfect solution.
The location was chosen… an uninhabited desert, miles of empty land where no civilians would be at risk.
Magneto would build the battlefield first, tearing ore from the bedrock and forging it into a warzone engineered for their victory.
Soren could have helped.
He still carried the ability he once extracted from Magneto himself. But he had to do something else, something only he could do.
"I have another surprise for everyone," Soren said, smiling faintly.
A tremor of energy rippled across his skin.
The ability he had taken from Apocalypse when he first arrived in this world…. had grown stronger with time. At first, he believed it only worked on mutants.
But after countless experiments and long hours of mastery…
He realized it could work on everyone.
A radiant field burst from him like a rising sun, expanding outward and enveloping the entire army.
In an instant, the air charged with raw possibility. It wasn't simply enhancement.
The field pulsed.
Potential activated.
Mutants were the first to react. Professor X inhaled sharply as his mental range expanded like an unfurling galaxy.
Magneto's eyes widened, then glowed with magnetic brilliance as his power surged beyond its former ceiling.
Asgardians were next. Divine power within their bodies ignited, boiling to the surface.
Thor's lightning erupted beneath his skin, crackling so violently that nearby warriors scrambled back to avoid being shocked.
Hulk let out a roar of pure exhilaration. His already titanic body grew larger still, and for a moment the ground cracked beneath him.
Soren's eyes sharpened.
Hulk's potential burst upward shattering through the S-rank ceiling and surging into S+.
A monster of that caliber could tilt the outcome of an entire war.
And then…
Jean and Freyja.
Freyja's divine and magical energies braided together into something infinitely more controlled. Her aura deepened like a goddess awakening.
But Jean… Jean was something else entirely.
The air around her collapsed inward, then exploded outward with invisible force. She rose slowly, hair floating, eyes closed in concentration or perhaps in instinct.
The world trembled.
Zilant, watching from afar, let out a frightened whimper and hid behind a pillar.
Behind Jean, reality began to peel apart like layers of paper burning in reverse. Darkness bled through, a void so deep it swallowed the light. From that nothingness, a shape emerged…
Wings.
True phoenix wings.
They unfurled with a sound like the universe exhaling, stretching wide behind her, making her seem both divine and terrifying.
Jean Grey… had touched the real Phoenix.
Soren exhaled slowly. "It truly is a power capable of destroying galaxies…"
The thought flashed through his mind. only to fade just as quickly.
Jean wasn't there yet. Her strength was still growing. She was far from the apocalyptic force he knew she could one day become.
But even now, even now she was overwhelming.
If Soren calculated her power now honestly, Jean had stepped firmly into the realm of S+.
And at this point?
Anyone below the Black Order's highest tier wouldn't last even a heartbeat against her.
The field of potential stimulation eventually began to subside. Its glow dimmed, its pressure lifted. One by one, the others came down from the intoxicating rush of power, expressions openly ecstatic.
Awe, disbelief, and gratitude mixed on their faces.
Some people… even the proudest among them found themselves silently thanking Thanos.
If he hadn't threatened Earth, they never would've received such a wild, impossible chance to evolve.
Magneto flexed his fingers experimentally.
At once, Soren sensed another consciousness sliding into the magnetic web surrounding the entire island. Magneto's presence interlaced with Soren's field, testing it, evaluating it, respecting it.
But he didn't alter anything. He simply paused… and was astonished.
Even he, Master of Magnetism, was shaken by the sheer scale of the field Soren had created.
"Soren…" Magneto finally said. "I'll go prepare the battlefield."
The eagerness in his eyes was new. This new power coursing through him surpassed even what Apocalypse once forced into his body. It was raw and perfectly his.
Soren nodded, smiling.
With a gesture, he opened a swirling space portal that stretched across the hall and into the distance.
Beyond it lay a vast, desolate wilderness… a dessert so hostile that even the bravest explorers rarely survived it. A place untouched, barren, and perfect for war.
Magneto offered a final nod to the assembled heroes before stepping through the portal and vanishing into the desert to begin shaping the battlefield.
Soren turned to the others.
"Take time to feel your new abilities," He told them. "Settle into the changes. Tomorrow… the battle begins."
Every gaze fixed on him… full of respect.
They had come here prepared to fight for Earth, prepared to help him.
But before a single punch had been thrown, Soren had already given them more than they ever expected.
He approached Tony.
"Tony," Soren said, reaching into his storage and pulling out a long, sleek artifact.
It resembled a medieval rifle, but far more refined, etched with runes. "This is an artifact I acquired from the Collector."
Tony's eyes widened. "That's… definitely not from any museum I know."
"It requires a massive amount of energy to fire," Soren explained. "But if anyone can manage its appetite, it's you."
He placed it into Tony's hands.
"Bring extra energy cells," Soren added with a knowing smirk. "A lot of them."