[Third Person Pov]
Aria phased down through the floors of the Sentinel facility, and the deeper she descended the more distant and muted the battle above became, until she had gone far enough that no sound reached her at all. By the time she arrived at the lowest possible level, complete silence surrounded her. Everything was swallowed in oppressive darkness with no visible source of light, the shadows thick and suffocating. The only thing she could see was a pair of luminescent eyes fixed directly on her from across the chamber.
The gem embedded in her forehead began to glow brighter, casting a faint purple afterglow that pushed back the darkness just enough to reveal the space around her. Her eyes widened slightly as she finally located what she had been searching for.
Suspended in midair and secured by magnetic cuffs that kept him centered within a massive circular ring was a bald man with grey skin. His eyes were slit like a cat's at first, and he turned his head slightly, wincing at the sudden light. As his vision adjusted, his eyes shifted again, turning completely white with no visible pupil or iris.
"You're Darwin, correct?" Aria asked, though her tone suggested she already knew the answer.
"A-Are you here to save me?" he asked, his voice hoarse and uncertain from captivity.
"That's right," Aria replied as the gem on her forehead pulsed and fired a concentrated burst of energy at the cuffs restraining him. "We were tasked by the X-Men to come and save you."
The restraints shattered, and Darwin dropped to the floor with a wet splatter, his body briefly dissolving into a glob of liquid before rising up and reforming into his natural state. He stretched his limbs as if testing them, then nodded. "Thank you… and what do you mean by we? Where are the others?"
"They're fighting the Sentinels right now," Aria answered with a grim expression. "It's not looking good. We're barely holding on as it is."
A guilty look crossed Darwin's face. "That's my fault. Because of my mutation they're impossible to kill."
"It's not your fault," Aria said as she stepped closer to him. "You're the victim here, not the perpetrator. And we need you. You're our best chance at defeating the Sentinels."
"Me?" Darwin asked, startled by her certainty. "If you're fighting those machines with my mutation, then you should know I'm not built for confrontation. I'm built for survival."
"Exactly," Aria said with a grin as she placed a hand on his shoulder. "Don't you see? You're the key to all of this. You're the key to our survival."
Darwin clenched his fist briefly. "These powers aren't something I can actively control. They respond on their own. If I'm not in immediate danger, they won't activate, even if I'm being held captive."
"That won't be a problem," Aria replied, shaking her head. "My father already thought of a way around that. Trust me, he's incredibly intelligent. You have nothing to worry about."
"What are you talking about?" Darwin asked, clearly bewildered.
"Your powers operate on instinct, right? Your body adapts almost instantaneously into whatever you need in order to survive," Aria explained, her eyes gleaming with determination.
"Something like that," Darwin admitted, though his expression remained cautious as he studied her.
"My father's plan is simple," Aria continued. "Using my Mind Stone, we're going to make your mutation believe your life is in immediate and overwhelming danger from all the Sentinels at once. We're hoping your body will respond by transforming you into some kind of permanent countermeasure, a living kill switch that can put an end to them for good."
Instead of looking impressed, Darwin shook his head. "That's not guaranteed to work. Like I said, I can't consciously guide how my mutation adapts. There's no telling what my body might decide is the best survival strategy. For all we know, it might conclude that the safest option is to remove me from the battlefield entirely, even send me to another dimension. Your idea could work, but it would depend entirely on chance."
Aria did not lose her smile. In fact, she let out a soft chuckle. "You really don't have anything to fear. Fortunately for us, we have someone on our side who can tip the odds in our favor. With her helping us, it's practically guaranteed."
…
Lizzy streaked through the vacuum of space wrapped in a blazing aura of microwave energy, her body shining like a shooting star as she pushed herself to breakneck speeds and reached terminal velocity. The void rippled faintly around her from the sheer intensity of the radiation she emitted. As Earth came back into view, she gradually slowed and suppressed her powers, carefully withdrawing the radiation so it would not spill into the atmosphere and harm the planet.
She descended like a comet returning home, cutting through the sky as she angled toward the mountains of Colorado. On her way down, she spotted several capsules launching Sentinels into the air. Without breaking stride, she flicked her hand outward and unleashed concentrated waves of energy, fire, and radiation. The capsules detonated midair, collapsing into molten debris before they could fully deploy.
Lizzy accelerated again, heading toward her team where the X-Men were in the middle of rescuing captives from the facility. She burned a clean hole straight through the roof and dropped down inside, landing in a controlled but undeniably dramatic display as heat shimmered around her boots.
She froze almost immediately at what she saw next.
Nightwing was in motion, fluid and precise, tossing Emma Frost into the air to avoid an incoming Sentinel blast. He dismantled the machines that rushed them with efficient strikes, then caught her effortlessly as she descended, pulling her back into his arms.
"I think we both know there was no need to catch me," Emma said with a teasing scoff.
"I know," Harry replied with a crooked smirk. "I just wanted to."
"Oh, did you now?" Lizzy's voice cut through the room in a flat monotone.
Harry stiffened and pivoted on his heel. He found Lizzy standing there with her arms crossed, foot tapping against the ground, a clear frown set on her face. "Baby! Darling! Love of my life, you're back safe and sound," he blurted, instantly switching tones. "You have no idea how worried I was. My heart couldn't take it." He clutched his chest dramatically as if in genuine distress.
"So you decided to find solace in the arms of another woman?" Lizzy asked, arching a brow.
Harry visibly began to sweat. His confidence shrank in real time as he stumbled over his words. "Have I mentioned recently how much I love you?" he squeaked.
Both Lizzy and Emma snorted at the same time, though for entirely different reasons. Lizzy's was filled with irritation. Emma's carried clear amusement.
The two women looked at each other in silence, openly assessing one another from head to toe. Their brows furrowed in mirrored annoyance as the same reluctant thought crossed both their minds at once: damn, she's pretty.
Meanwhile, Harry stood a short distance away, mentally searching his genetic code for any dormant mutation that might allow him to turn invisible and escape the situation altogether.
************************************************
+5 advance Chapters on: patreon.com/Shadow_D_Monarch3