The steel doors hissed open, revealing a cavernous chamber lined with glowing panels. Aurora and Miles stepped inside, their footsteps echoing across the polished floor.
"The Danger Room," Storm explained, her voice calm but edged with warning. "A place where illusions become reality—and where we test ourselves against the impossible."
Miles gave Aurora a side glance. "Illusions? I'm guessing they mean 'giant death traps.'"
Logan smirked. "You catch on quick, kid."
Professor Xavier's voice carried through the intercom above them. "This will be a simple exercise. Aurora, Miles—you will work together with the X-Men to survive a scenario. Remember: teamwork, not victory, is what matters here."
Aurora swallowed hard. Teamwork. She had never been good at trusting anyone.
The chamber darkened. A thunderous roar shook the walls as holographic Sentinels—towering, metallic giants—emerged from the shadows. Their eyes glowed a menacing red.
"Sentinels? You call this simple?!" Miles yelped, already springing backward.
"Move!" Logan barked, his claws extending with a metallic snikt.
The battle erupted. Cyclops unleashed a ruby blast, Storm summoned lightning, and Nightcrawler vanished in a puff of smoke. Aurora froze—her instincts screaming to retreat. But when one Sentinel's hand came crashing toward her, her body reacted.
She dodged, her movements suddenly mimicking Storm's fluid precision. She lifted her hand—and lightning cracked from her fingertips.
Storm gasped. "She—she copied me."
Aurora's eyes widened in horror. She hadn't meant to. But the surge of power was intoxicating, wild, dangerous. Another Sentinel turned, firing a blast toward Miles. Without thinking, Aurora leapt—her speed now echoing Nightcrawler's agility. She grabbed Miles, teleporting both of them out of harm's way.
They reappeared across the chamber, both gasping for breath. Miles stared at her. "Okay… that's new."
But Aurora wasn't smiling. She felt her body straining, flickering between different powers—claws flashing like Logan's, sparks dancing like Storm's, her body shimmering like Kitty Pryde's phasing. The more she copied, the more unstable she became.
"Stop!" Logan shouted. "You're burning yourself out!"
Aurora's voice cracked, her hands trembling. "I can't—control—it—"
The copied powers lashed wildly. A lightning strike nearly clipped Cyclops. A burst of phasing sent her halfway through the ground before she scrambled back up.
Miles grabbed her shoulders, forcing her to look at him. "Aurora! Hey—listen to me! You don't have to use all of it. Just one at a time! Focus!"
Her heart pounded. Focus. One at a time.
She looked at the nearest Sentinel, towering above them. Instead of reaching for everything, she drew on one ability—just Storm's lightning. The air sizzled as she channeled the energy into a single devastating strike. The Sentinel collapsed, smoke rising from its shattered frame.
The chamber went silent. The simulation ended.
Aurora collapsed to her knees, chest heaving. Miles knelt beside her, his grin shaky but proud. "See? Not so bad. Just a few heart attacks in between."
Logan stalked forward, his eyes sharp. "Kid, that power of yours—it's a loaded gun. You keep it under control, you're an asset. You lose it…" He didn't finish the sentence, but the warning hung heavy in the air.
Aurora lowered her head. She didn't need him to say it. She already knew.
But when she looked up, she saw Professor Xavier watching from above—not with fear, but with quiet confidence.
"You are more than your power, Aurora," he said softly. "You only need to believe it."
For the first time, she felt the weight of both danger and possibility. She wasn't just surviving anymore. She was training to become.