Bruce watched as the remaining Sentinels gathered, their bodies crackling a dark, pulsating red energy. He knew that these machines were entering a new phase of adaptation, but he remained unfazed. If anything, the challenge only made him more determined to push his limits. Although he was exhausted after his early fight with Lady Shiva, followed by dimension ripper, then a fight with Darkseid and the dimension travel, he used Ivy's healing serum which was infused with the emergency nanites to regain his full strength in the blink of an eye. He was saving it for an emergency, but considering the situation, he decided to use it.
"Let's see what you've got," Bruce muttered, his voice a low growl as he clenched his fists, the lightning ring on his hand glowing brightly.
The first Sentinel in the formation suddenly lunged at him with blinding speed. It was so fast that anyone would think that the machine just teleported. Its arm transformed into a massive blade coated in the same glowing energy.
"You are fast!" Bruce sidestepped the attack, moving faster than the eye could follow, and countered with a powerful uppercut that sent the machine spiraling through the air. "But I'm faster..." The impact was so intense that a massive shockwave swept over the area as the Sentinel's head snapped back, and its body twitched as it tried to recover. Bruce didn't give it a chance—he teleported right above it and slammed his fists down, driving the Sentinel into the ground with a thunderous crash.
Before he could catch his deliver the final punch, two more Sentinels attacked in unison.
One of them unleashed a wave of telekinetic force that caught Bruce off guard, pinning him in place for a brief moment. The other Sentinel charged forward, its metallic fists crackling with dark red energy, aiming to deliver a devastating blow.
"NOT GOOD ENOUGH!" Bruce yelled as he exerted his strength, breaking free from the telekinetic hold just in time to grab the sentinel's energy fist. He twisted it with a sharp motion, ripping it clean off. Sparks and wires flew as the machine staggered back, but Bruce wasn't done. He smashed the severed arm into the Sentinel's chest, creating a massive dent, and then delivered a final punch that shattered its torso into pieces.
The other Sentinel tried to adapt by shifting its form, its outer shell shimmering as it hardened into a reflective surface. It fired a beam of energy that ricocheted off Bruce's body, striking him with enough force to send him flying backward. Bruce skidded to a stop in mid-air, his feet digging into the ground. He grinned, more excited than ever.
"Not bad," he said, his voice full of excitement. "But not good enough."
He dashed toward the Sentinel, moving so quickly that the machine couldn't track his movements. Bruce appeared behind it and delivered a powerful punch that sent the Sentinel crashing into the ground. As it tried to rise, Bruce stomped on its head, crushing it under his boot. Then he punched through its chest, breaking the core.
As the battle raged on, Bruce noticed the remaining Sentinels adopting a new strategy. They surrounded him in a tight formation, their energy signatures spiking as they synchronized their attacks. He could sense the buildup of power, knowing that they were preparing for a massive combined assault. So far they only used energy attacks and very little mutant power. He knew that the fun was about to come very soon.
Suddenly, the Sentinels stopped moving, hovering in place. The energy between them crackled, forming a dark, ominous sphere at the center of their formation. Bruce's eyes narrowed. He could tell that they were pooling their power for a massive, coordinated attack.
The sphere pulsed, growing larger with each passing second.
"Concentrated energy blast, huh?! Well, bring it on, motherfucking machines!" Bruce braced himself. He was prepared to counter whatever the Sentinels were planning. He could feel the electric charge building in the air, and then, with a loud thunderclap, the sphere exploded outward, sending a wave of dark energy hurtling toward him.
Bruce crossed his arms in front of him, creating an energy shield with his nanites just in time to absorb the brunt of the blast. The force of the explosion pushed him back, but he held firm, gritting his teeth as the energy washed over him. As the energy dissipated, he looked up to see the Sentinels charging toward him.
This time, they were using new powers they'd absorbed from mutants. One Sentinel extended its arm, and a stream of fire erupted from its hand, the flames roaring like a dragon's breath. Bruce dodged the fire, but another Sentinel appeared beside him, its eyes glowing a deep red. It unleashed a powerful telekinetic blast that slammed into Bruce, sending him crashing into the ground.
"Now, that was an improvement..."
Before he could recover, another Sentinel swooped in, its body surrounded by a purple glowing aura. It raised its hands, and the ground beneath Bruce erupted in a violent quake. The earth split open, and massive shards of rock shot up, aiming to impale him. Bruce rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding the deadly spikes, but the Sentinels weren't letting up.
Bruce quickly got to his feet.
The one throwing fire, its arm transformed into a massive cannon, and a stream of white-hot flames shot toward him with terrifying speed. Bruce's reflexes kicked in, and he dodged the flames with a swift leap to the side. The heat singed the ground where he had just been standing, leaving behind a trail of scorched earth. The trees around him burst into flames, their leaves burning to ash.
Before he could react, another Sentinel appeared directly in front of him, its eyes glowing with a red light. This one had absorbed telepathic abilities, and Bruce felt a sudden pressure in his head, like an invisible vice squeezing his brain. The force was disorienting, and he stumbled, momentarily losing his balance.
"Get out of my head!" He growled, using sheer willpower to push back against the mental assault.
Bruce knew he couldn't afford to be distracted, not even for a second. With a burst of roar, he broke free of the telepathic grip, just in time to see the Sentinel charging at him with a massive energy blade formed from its arm. It was different from the energy blades they used before, this one had a weird purple glow like that of Psylocke's weapon creation. He sidestepped the attack, moving faster than the Sentinel could react.
He delivered a swift punch to its midsection, sending the machine staggering backward. But it quickly recovered, adapting its form once again, its armor now coated with a reflective surface that shimmered ominously. Bruce raised his hand, and a bolt of lightning shot out, aimed directly at the Sentinel's chest. The lightning struck with a deafening crack, but the machine's new reflective armor absorbed the energy, redirecting it back at Bruce.
'Interesting... very interesting,' Bruce thought as he absorbed the lightning, before teleporting before it, punching through its chest, but to his surprise, the sentinel's adaptive metal created a hole in its chest, and as soon as fist went into the hole, it closed the gap, trapping his fist inside it. Bruce didn't flinch, instead, with a burst of speed, he flew outside Earth's atmosphere.
"Apapt to this motherfucker!"
Although these Sentinels were powerful, they were made to survive in the space environment. Its body froze as the vacuum of space caused it to malfunction, Bruce used his other fist to punch through its chest and ripped it apart in two, then used heat vision to destroy its core.
Bruce then teleported back to the battlefield.
He saw the remaining Sentinels regrouping. Their bodies began to shimmer and meld together, the metallic surfaces fusing seamlessly. A strange, dark energy crackled around them as they merged into a single, human-sized figure. Unlike the towering giants he had just faced, this new Sentinel was sleek and compact, with an appearance almost humanoid.
The new Sentinel's eyes glowed, and it moved with a fluidity that was almost unnatural for a machine. It landed softly on the ground, its feet barely making a sound as it stood before Bruce.
"So, you are the final boss, huh?!" Bruce cracked his neck and knuckles.
Without warning, the Sentinel lunged at him with blinding speed, its fist glowing with a dark, pulsating energy. Bruce's enhanced senses allowed him to predict its movements, and he easily dodged the attack, countering with a punch of his own. His fist connected with the Sentinel's chest, but to his surprise, the machine didn't even flinch. Instead, it grabbed his arm and twisted it with a sharp motion, trying to break it. But little did the machine know that Bruce has Kryptonian durability.
"Uumm... What are you trying to do?" Bruce asked mockingly, looking at the Sentinel as if it was some kind of a joke. The Sentinel didn't answer, instead, it let go of Bruce's arm and disappeared with a cloud of dark smoke. It was using Nightcrawler's ability to teleport. "Clever..." He muttered as he scanned his surroundings, searching for any sign of the Sentinel's presence.
Suddenly, it appeared right behind him, delivering a powerful kick to Bruce's back. But his heightened senses alerted him just in time, and he teleported out of the way, countering with a punch of his own. His fist connected with the Sentinel's head, knocking it back.
"You are really clever, I'll give you that..." He used ice breath to freeze the Sentinel, but the machine adapted and broke free coating its body in molten fire. Bruce grinned. The Sentinel's adaptive metal was evolving rapidly, it copied and mastered every power he threw at it. "Let's see how you deal with this!"
Bruce's eyes glowed with a bright crimson light, and he unleashed a powerful heat vision beam. The Sentinel reacted by adapting its armor to withstand the intense heat. But Bruce increased the intensity of his heat vision, and the Sentinel began to crack under the pressure, its outer shell melting away. However, before it could take any damage, the Sentinel vanished in a cloud of dark smoke.
However, this time, Bruce used his senses and caught the Sentinel by its neck as soon as it reappeared. He instantly flew out of Earth's atmosphere, dragging the Sentinel along with him. Once they reached space, he unleashed his full strength, his grip tightening around the Sentinel's neck. The machine struggled, trying to escape his grasp, but Bruce wasn't letting go. He punched it hard enough to send it flying further into space. The Sentinel tried to fly back to Earth, but Bruce wasn't having it. He teleported in front of it, grabbing it by its leg.
"Going somewhere?" He grabbed its other leg and ripped it in half with ease.
Finally, the energy core was separated from its body. The liquid metal tried to fuse back together, but Bruce was faster. He grabbed it and crushed the energy core in his fist, destroying it completely. As the Sentinel's body shattered into pieces, Bruce watched as the energy scattered into the vast expanse of space.
"Well, that was fun and annoying... Time to check on Jen and the others..." He flew back to Earth at supersonic speed.
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