As his wounds began to heal, Evan watched Spider-Man's struggle against the Sentinels with a furrowed brow, a mix of concern and exasperation.
Testing his shoulder's mobility with a slow rotation, he braced himself for what he knew needed to be done. His body moved with remarkable speed, a blur of agility and power, as he closed in on the Sentinel engaged in combat with Spider-Man.
The machine barely had time to react before Evan's fist slammed into its metallic frame, his fingers penetrating its layers of armor and deftly prying open a section to reveal its energy source.
With Extremis coursing through his veins, Evan directed a bolt of electricity from his body into the exposed energy core. The surge of power destabilized it and caused it to turn volatile.
Before Spider-Man's astonished eyes, Evan seized the destabilized energy source. With a controlled toss, he launched the hazardous payload toward a cluster of nearby Sentinels.
The volatile projectile struck its mark, causing a cataclysmic explosion that unleashed devastation, decimating several Sentinels caught in the fiery maelstrom.
Turning his attention back to Spider-Man, Evan spoke, his voice calm and reassuring. "These things are tricky," he began, his gaze steady as he offered guidance. "But as long as you can neutralize their power source, they'll be nothing more than scrap metal..."
"It should be easy to do so if you can muster up the strength to get through their armor, and I know you can," Evan advised, casting a sidelong glance at Spider-Man. "So long as you stop holding back, that is..."
Spider-Man's masked eyes widened beneath his mask in genuine confusion. "What do you mean?"
Evan released a sigh. "You're used to holding back your strength so as not to harm your enemies—I can see it in how you move," he explained, his words laden with empathy.
However, He shook his head in frustration, emphasizing the gravity of the situation. "But those things are not people. They are not humans—it's okay to let loose and beat the living crap out of them..."
Despite Evan's impassioned plea, Spider-Man still appeared hesitant, a trace of doubt lingering in his demeanor. Evan noticed this and decided to drive home a stark truth.
"It's either us or them, kid," he declared firmly, the weight of their predicament pressing down on him. "These Sentinels will end the world as we know it if we let them..."
Spider-Man scratched his head, his masked face furrowing with contemplation. "Well, I guess we do need to do something about these tin cans..." he admitted, his resolve strengthening.
Just as Spider-Man finished his sentence, his spidey senses tingled with alarm, alerting him to imminent danger. He spun around, agile and quick, only to find a Sentinel looming dangerously close, its metallic limbs poised for an attack.
Without a moment's hesitation, he emulated Evan's earlier actions, summoning the full force of his superhuman strength and agility. His fist collided with the Sentinel's chest with a resounding impact, sending a shockwave of destruction through the machine.
The Sentinel crumbled to its knees, its menacing presence extinguished as the light in its eyes flickered and dimmed as Spider-man's fist destroyed its energy source.
Evan observed Spider-Man's swift and decisive response with an approving nod, a genuine smile gracing his face. "Good. You've got the right idea," he commended, a glimmer of satisfaction in his eyes, appreciating the young hero's reflexes and capacity to learn.
Then, Evan turned his attention to Iron Man, who was valiantly battling a relentless swarm of Sentinels. With confidence, he instructed Spider-Man. "Go ahead and help Iron Man," Evan urged, a touch of reassurance in his words. "I can take it from here..."
...
As the weight of suspicion settled heavily upon Bolivar Trask, Xavier maintained the pressure, determined to break through to him. Leaning forward, his voice carried a sense of urgency and conviction that echoed through the room.
"You know this as well as I do; those machines will not answer to you," he asserted firmly, the words resounding with a gravitas that could not be denied. "If we do not stop them now, they'll learn and evolve even further, becoming a blight on the human race, not just mutants..."
Bolivar Trask's turmoil was evident as he gripped his head, his conflicted emotions warring within him. The lines of his face etched with the battle of ideology versus reason, he appeared as a man torn apart by his own creation. His deep-seated hatred of mutants clashed with the seeds of reason sown by Xavier's persuasive words.
His voice wavered with desperation as he argued, "No! No! That can't be! The Sentinels are my creation! They will heed my word!"
As Bolivar Trask spoke, a dozen or so Sentinels ominously approached the room as commanded by the Master Mold, their menacing presence growing like an impending storm on the horizon.
Xavier noticed their relentless advance and turned to his companions, issuing a decisive command. "Deal with the machines. Buy me some time..."
The urgency in his tone underscored the critical nature of their mission, and the need to protect Bolivar Trask while Xavier attempted the delicate task of reaching the man's conscience.
His gaze shifted back to Trask, a glimmer of hope in his eyes as he stated with unwavering determination, "I can get through to him. I know it..."
Domino couldn't help but sigh in exasperation at Xavier's words. She had come here solely to extract the captives as a favor for Evan, expecting a straightforward task. However, Xavier's requests and demands had added layers of complexity she hadn't anticipated.
Instead of a straightforward job, she found herself entangled in a battle against an army of homicidal robots with the fate of the world hanging in the balance. The weight of their mission was undeniable, and the gravity of the situation weighed heavily on her shoulders.
She understood the dire consequences that would ensue should they fail to stop the Sentinels. Bolivar Trask was the only man capable of halting their rampage, and Xavier was the only one with the ability to convince him to do so, whether through persuasion or telepathic intervention.
The weight of the world, the very future of both humans and mutants, rested on their shoulders. Domino couldn't deny the necessity of their mission, even if she found it to be a pain in the ass.
...
The battle on the surface raged on, and although the arrival of Spider-Man and Iron Man had brought some much-needed relief to Evan, it didn't change the fact that they were sorely outnumbered. The Sentinels continued to pour in, their relentless assault pushing the heroes to their limits.
It was becoming increasingly clear that it would only be a matter of time before Spider-Man and Iron Man succumbed to fatigue and were forced to retreat, just like the X-Men had earlier. But Evan understood that he was fighting a losing battle. Victory had never been the goal here. Instead, their objective was simple: buy time.
They needed to hold out until Jarvis could successfully hack into the Sentinel network. It would be a significant blow to the Sentinels' coordinated efforts If they could disable their communications and sever their link with whatever-- or whoever was commanding and organizing their ranks.
The battle wasn't about winning; it was about delaying the inevitable long enough to achieve their strategic aim, or so Evan mused as he found himself in a fierce struggle against the four Sentinel machines surrounding him.
Ducking under the arms of the first Sentinel as it swung its massive fist at him, Evan swiftly moved in, taking hold of its wrist. With a deft maneuver, he used his free hand to stab directly into the energy source of the Sentinel. With a powerful toss, he hurled the disabled machine at the second Sentinel, sending both of them crashing away.
Without pausing for a breath, Evan seized the initiative, lunging at the third sentinel. His strength and agility were formidable as he crushed the armor plating on its chest and struck the energy source beneath it with a swift, devastating kick.
Realizing that all his limbs were occupied, Evan couldn't avoid the fourth machine's impending attack. He braced himself for the impact, ready to withstand the blow.
However, just as the machine's massive fist was about to strike, a sudden puff of smoke appeared, quickly dissipating to reveal the forms of Nightcrawler and Wolverine. With a feeble smile, blood seeping from his lips, Nightcrawler acknowledged Evan before vanishing once more, leaving Wolverine behind.
Wolverine assessed the situation with his characteristic gruffness, his keen senses honed in on the battle. He moved with unparalleled speed, unsheathing his razor-sharp claws and burying them deep into the last sentinel machine's armored frame.
As he tore into the mechanical monstrosity, Wolverine couldn't help but comment, "Those damned things did a number on me. It's been a while since I needed more than a minute to recover..."