Chapter 197: Pyramid Vs Earth?

Getting slammed onto the ground from Apocalypse's telekinesis, I was nearly forced onto my knees by him, something I'm sure he would've loved, so I purposely ensured that wouldn't happen. Resisting his powerful telekinesis, I stood on the dented floor and slowly approached him, with each step of mine creating a large dent in the floor.

However, he didn't seem pleased that I was resisting him since all of a sudden, he raised his other arm at me, only for it to morph into a futuristic energy cannon; seeing the intense shinning light in the barrel, I raised my arms, protecting my face, and after a few short seconds, I was suddenly bombarded by a powerful wave of energy that comply enveloped me.

Grunting in pain, I was forced to a halt while my skin was slowly getting burned by the powerful wave of energy; however, it was only a temporary setback before I began to approach my target once more, resisting both his telekinesis and this energy wave. With a few more steps, I neared, and just when I was about to lunge toward him, I nearly collapsed onto my hands and knees as I felt a powerful presence bombarded itself against my mind, causing me to grab my head in agony.

'Ugh, c'mon, resist, mind!' Thought Pharaoh as he held his head in pain while slowly standing upright from his squatting position, causing Apocalypse, who was watching everything, to frown.

"To resist the power of a god, you're one mighty warrior; however, in the end, it will be all for naught, for I am a God." Remarked Apocalypse lightly, looking at Tut with slight respect, only for his face to suddenly harden as he raised his other hand and pointed it at him before clenching his fist, causing the very space around them to wrap.

Listening to the fool's speech, I clicked my tongue, and while resisting his three different powers, I held my head and lunged towards Apocalypse, flying through the air as I quickly approached him; yet, I couldn't even make it two feet before I was enveloped in a powerful force, that instantly slammed me onto the floor. With this new sudden power, along with his other three, I was sprawled on the ground, barely able to move.

'D-Dammit; what is it now!?' Thought Pharaoh with an ugly expression as he laid on his back while looking at the ceiling before trying to roll onto his back, which was proving incredibly challenging.

As I tried to stand back onto my feet, I felt the pyramid violently rumble along with small explosions and a burning smell, causing me to frown when I realized what was happening. Cursing under my breath, I stabbed my hand into the base of the pyramid and tried to fly, hoping to stop it from violently colliding with the Earth, since with how fast we're reentering its atmosphere, we'd cause an apocalyptic event across all of Africa and Europe, the rest of the world wouldn't be safe either, they just wouldn't get the immediate effects.

However, whether my attempts were helping or not was next to impossible to discern; I couldn't even stand myself; how was I supposed to stop something that weighed several million tons?

"Ugh, fucking bastard, will you stop!" Yelled Pharaoh angrily as he looked up and blasted his heat vision at Apocalypse's arm, which was constantly emitting a powerful wave of energy; although no damage was seemingly done, he managed to stop the flow of energy.

Finally, freeing my scorched skin from his energy cannon or whatever it's called, I stabbed my other hand into the base of the pyramid and pulled while slightly floating in the air, yet while I noticed I managed to slow it down, it was marginal and wouldn't make a difference in the grand scheme of things. However, all of a sudden, I heard Carol and Rogue's voices rapidly approaching the pyramid; looking through the ground, I saw the pyramid practically slam into them as they tried to stop it.

With their help, we managed to greatly slow down the pyramid, though we couldn't entirely stop it before it collided with the Earth, destroying a large chunk of the city in the process; thankfully, Shield rescued many of the citizens that were being used as slaves by Apocalypse, and they were currently being held far enough away from the way everything was happening, unfortunately, not everyone was saved.

Slamming my fist onto the floor in anger, I glared at Apocalypse and speedily flew toward him while resisting his powers; just before I could grab him, our positions had been swapped, but I was already expecting that, so almost instantly, I turned around and grabbed the back of his head. Flying toward the wall of the pyramid, I slammed him face-first into it and continued to push his body through the wall; we eventually arrived outside, where I then aggressively threw him into the ground, only to follow up with an intense beam of plasma, which dug him further and further into the ground.

After a couple more seconds, I relented and closed my eyes while landing on the ground. I was still furious, but we had more pressing matters to attend to. Apocalypse was still alive, and I'd only managed to buy us some time to regroup.

'Haa, keep a cool head, Pharaoh.' Thought Pharaoh softly as he took a deep breath before opening his eyes and swiftly approaching the pyramid, only to reach underneath and lift it off the ground with one hand.

"Carol, Rogue, are you two okay?" Asked Pharaoh in slight concern as he gently sent the pyramid beside him, only for two feminine voices to sound out.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm in pain, but I'm alive." Replied Carol and Rogue, respectively, as the former flew out from the ground while the latter sat upright, rubbing her head in pain.

"Though, what about you? You look like shit?" Remarked Carol as she landed beside Pharaoh while looking at his burnt and scorched skin, causing him to wave his hand dissmively.

"It's not nearly as bad as it looks; it only stings; besides, if the stupid clouds would move out of the way, I'd have healed by now." Said Pharaoh lightly as he glanced at Carol before looking at the sky and cursing under his breath when he spotted the numerous clouds blocking the sunlight.

Shaking my head, I looked around for everyone else, hoping they were fine, only for me to hear several footsteps coming from the left as they all suddenly appeared from behind a pile of rubble.

"Yo, what the hell was that about? Dropping a whole ass Pyramid?" Questioned Bobby in annoyance as he raised his hands in the air, eyeing Pharaoh while everyone else also glared at him.

"Yeah, if it weren't for Kitty, we'd most likely be dead, well, except for Colossus, Kitty, and this fossil." Remarked Gambit in annoyance as he rested his bo-staff on his shoulder, approaching the duo while Rogue finally removed herself from the ground and landed beside them.

I didn't really have much to say to them since while I wasn't the one who slammed the pyramid into Earth, I did take it into outer space, so I was partially to blame so other than sighing and nodding, I just stayed quiet.

"We can blame and point fingers later, you two; let's focus on the task at hand. Has Apocalypse been defeated or killed?" Asked Beast as he glanced at Bobby and Gambit before looking at Pharaoh with a solemn expression, only for them to suddenly feel the entire ground violently shake.

"I think that answers your question." Said Pharaoh as he glanced at Beast with a wry expression before gesturing towards the hole in the distance, causing everyone to intently look at it while the trembling became increasingly violent.

"It feels like the entire city is shaking." Muttered Kitty lightly as she gulped nervously, eyeing the whole while using Colossus to keep her balance.

"That's because it is." Remarked Pharaoh with an unsightly expression as he and Carol floated slightly above the group while intensely eyeing the hole, only for the shaking to suddenly come to a halt.

Patiently floating in the sky, waiting for Apocalypse to reveal himself, I glanced to my left, spotting a drone hovering in the distance, and thanks to my ears, I knew it was Jean operating the drone from the safety of the X-mansion. Inwardly smirking, I winked at the drone and smiled confidently at her before snapping my head back to the hole when I heard Apocalypse's voice, just in time to see his figure emerge from the hole I had made using his body.

"It seems my Horseman has failed me yet again; they were expendable anyway." Remarked Apocalypse with a slight frown as he gazed at the X-Men before slightly shaking his head and glancing at the drone, only to faintly smirk.

"Come to me, Host of the Phoenix Force, and I shall spare their lives, for I am a benevolent God." Added Apocalypse as he outstretched his hands while gazing at the drone, only for two concentrated beams of plasma to cut the ground before his feet.

"She's not coming to you, and you're not killing us either; how about you surrender instead? It'll make this easier on all of us." Stated Pharaoh with a frown as he floated forward and folded his arms while eyeing Apocalypse, who turned and looked at him.

"I see, so you've chosen death? Then, I shall stop delaying the inevitable. I will kill you all and forcefully take the Phoenix Force myself." Declared Apocalypse as he eyed Pharaoh before looking at everyone else, none of which backed down from his gaze, causing him to smile faintly.