Under the watchful gaze of the Schwarzenegger-like mutant, Alex strode confidently toward the hidden research facility's entrance, Charles and Hank close behind.
The further they approached, the more the air seemed to grow heavy, as if the earth itself was holding its breath. For a place so clearly top-secret, they expected fortified gates bristling with cameras, patrols of armed guards, maybe even drones circling the sky.
The entrance loomed before them, a slab of steel embedded in concrete, eerily silent and utterly unguarded. The stillness was wrong. Too deliberate.
The thick metal door shuddered as it creaked open on its own, the sound echoing unnaturally loud in the empty night.
Charles and Hank exchanged wary glances. That single, simple act carried a message louder than words.
They knew we were coming.
And they want us inside.
"Cheap theatrics," Alex muttered, his tone edged with disdain. His boots rang against the steel floor as he stepped through the doorway without hesitation, broad shoulders cutting into the darkness like a spear.
The door slammed shut behind them with a metallic finality, the echo reverberating down the narrow hall. A single corridor stretched ahead, its walls lined with dim, flickering lights that cast long, distorted shadows. Every step they took seemed amplified, their footfalls echoing back like an ominous drumbeat.
At last, the path widened into a cavernous underground hall.
Dozens of mutants lounged casually against the walls, their stares sharp and hungry. They didn't rush forward; they didn't need to. They were predators waiting for the command to strike, watching their prey walk willingly into the trap.
At the center stood a tall man with golden hair slicked into a sharp undercut, dressed in combat gear that looked tailored more like a designer suit than armor. He exuded smug confidence, posture loose but commanding, like a host throwing a party in his own domain.
"Well, well… if it isn't the legendary Alex Winters," he drawled, voice dripping with mockery. "Invulnerable skin. Supersonic flight. Heat vision. X-ray sight. Maybe even telepathy? No wonder they say you're the strongest. To most, you're basically a god."
His grin widened, sharp and cruel.
"Too bad I'm not most people."
Charles's expression hardened as he stepped forward, his voice laced with urgency. "You're mutants too. Why are you attacking your own kind?"
The man barked a laugh that echoed through the chamber. "My kind? Those weaklings don't deserve to stand beside me."
The floor cracked beneath Alex's feet as he lunged forward, faster than a missile. The sheer force of his takeoff released a compressed shockwave that rattled the walls, his fist a streak of destruction aimed directly at the man's throat—
Only to collide with glittering crystal.
In the blink of an eye, the blond man's skin hardened, his entire body transforming into a dense, diamond-like armor. The lights caught the facets, scattering reflections across the chamber like a deadly prism.
Alex's fist connected. The impact launched the man like a cannonball through a reinforced wall, stone and steel shattering in his wake, leaving a crater deep in the concrete. Dust rained from the ceiling like ash.
Alex didn't move an inch. His voice cut cold through the silence.
"You think you're strong?"
From the rubble, the diamond-skinned man—Nocturne—staggered upright. His chest was fractured, a spiderweb of cracks spreading across his crystalline torso, each fissure glinting under the fluorescent light.
"Impossible…" he muttered, disbelief lacing his words.
Diamond was one of the hardest substances on Earth. Yet Alex had shattered it with a single punch.
Gasps rippled through the surrounding mutants, their bravado flickering for the first time. This was Nocturne—one of the Master's elite Horsemen, a weapon specifically engineered to counter Alex.
And he'd been flattened in seconds.
Hank's brow furrowed as he adjusted his glasses, his keen mind cataloging every detail. "Diamond form… and wait—heat vision?"
Because right then, Nocturne's eyes flared bright red.
Twin beams of searing heat lanced through the air toward Alex, carving the atmosphere with blistering intensity.
Charles tensed, his mind instinctively calculating defenses.
They're just like Alex's.
But Alex didn't flinch. He didn't even blink.
A faint smirk tugged at his lips.
Twin crimson rays burst forth, colliding with Nocturne's beams in a thunderous clash of raw energy. The hall filled with blinding light, the air sizzling as the two streams fought for dominance, scorching the walls and sending waves of heat rippling across the chamber.
For a heartbeat, the twin attacks locked in perfect equilibrium, crackling, hissing, neither giving ground.
Then Alex leaned forward, voice a low growl.
And his heat vision surged.
Nocturne's beams faltered. Buckled. Shattered.
The explosion of fire swallowed him whole.
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