{Chapter: 52 - Blink's Ability}
"It would be my pleasure," Blink said with a smile, her eyes glinting with excitement. She twirled a crystalline shard between her fingers before flicking it forward. As it spun through the air, the space around it began to distort, folding in on itself like liquid silk until it formed a shimmering portal—its edges glowing with hues of pink and blue, like dawn light breaking through a dream.
The air itself crackled softly.
Aiden let out a low whistle, genuinely impressed. "Beautiful," he murmured.
Blink smirked, tossing her hair back with playful arrogance. "Flatter me later," she said with a wink. "Let's see if you can keep up."
Without waiting for a response, she dove headfirst into the portal. The space warped around her and swallowed her whole. Aiden didn't hesitate. With a gleam in his eyes, he stepped through, ready for whatever came next.
The sensation was strange—like slipping through warm water, only to emerge somewhere else entirely. He barely had time to look around before space shimmered again. A second portal opened silently in the air above him. Blink shot out of it like a missile, her form spinning as she descended toward him.
'You want to see my ability? Then show me why I should follow you!'
Her thoughts surged with adrenaline and resolve. Her leg extended in a sharp arc, aiming a powerful kick at the back of his head.
But Aiden didn't move. He didn't even look up. In a move that felt impossible, he reached behind with perfect timing and smacked her ankle away with the back of his hand. The precision and calmness of the motion sent a jolt of fear through her.
Startled but quick-witted, Blink twisted mid-air and flipped backwards, landing nimbly like a cat. Her feet barely touched the ground before she flung another crystal. The portal opened instantly, and she vanished again.
Aiden grinned, his cocky smile unfazed. His posture relaxed as he casually closed his eyes, as if he were preparing to take a nap in the middle of a battlefield.
Another portal opened—this time right in front of him.
Blink appeared like a lightning bolt, her fists flying. Punch after punch, kick after kick, she came at him with everything she had. Each strike was faster than the last. Her form was graceful, her angles unpredictable, but no matter what she tried, Aiden moved with uncanny ease.
"Still not fast enough," he said calmly, dodging her attacks with minimal effort. "Your movements are clean, but they're not lethal. If you're going to use your portals to ambush opponents, your strikes must be swift, sharp, and decisive. You can't just surprise them—you have to end the fight before they can recover."
His tone wasn't mocking. It was... instructional. Like a teacher to a student.
Blink snarled in frustration and launched another combo. Aiden caught her wrist in mid-air with the smoothness of someone who had done it a thousand times. He stepped forward, wrapping his hand around her other wrist as well, locking her in place.
"You want to test me?" he asked, softly but firmly. "Then let me show you something important."
She struggled against him, crystals already forming between her fingers—her escape route ready. But then, her body refused to respond.
Blink's eyes widened in shock. Her limbs were paralyzed. Her thoughts felt clouded. She couldn't even summon her powers.
"What—what did you do to me?!"
"I touched your mind," Aiden said gently, though his grip remained firm. "Just for a moment. I didn't hurt you—I simply demonstrated something crucial. No power is invincible. You rely on your portals to escape, but what happens when someone bypasses that? What if your opponent doesn't fight your body—but your mind?"
The moment hung in the air like a warning bell.
Aiden let go and stepped back, releasing his control over her.
Blink stumbled a little, her breathing heavy. Her hands clenched at her sides. "You—" she started, her voice shaking with a cocktail of awe, anger, and confusion. "That's... That's not fair."
"It's not supposed to be," Aiden said, his tone now softened. "The world isn't fair, and the people we'll face won't give you a chance to escape. But you're strong, Clarice. You just haven't learned how to be strong yet."
Blink looked down at her hands, then up at him, her eyes burning with a desire to improve. "Alright... I get it," she whispered. "Then teach me. Help me become someone who doesn't have to run away. Someone who doesn't need portals to survive."
Aiden nodded approvingly.
"Now, tell me something," she said, her voice more curious this time. "How are you so powerful? You've shown strength, fire manipulation, and mind control/telepathy. No normal mutant has that many abilities. I've never seen anything like it."
Aiden chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. "I wouldn't say I'm a mutant in the usual sense," he replied. "Let's just say... I'm just an ordinary guy. an ordinary guy with some special abilities trying to do extraordinary things—with the help of people like you."
Blink narrowed her eyes slightly. "That's a non-answer if I ever heard one."
"Fair enough," he said, smirking. "The truth is a dangerous thing, Blink. Not everyone's ready for it. But I'll tell you what matters: your power isn't just a way to run or attack. It's a way to change the battlefield. A way to change the world. And I want you to become someone who knows how to use it wisely."
Blink's eyes gleamed at the compliment, but she stayed grounded. "Then I won't disappoint you. I'm going to train harder. I'll be more than just the girl with portals."
"Good," Aiden said firmly, his voice carrying the weight of a mentor rather than just a casual acquaintance. He turned slightly, his eyes scanning the horizon, then walked forward with a confident stride. "Because your power is versatile—far more versatile than you realize. It's a key, not just a trick. Before the world starts burning around us—and it will—you must become more than just a portal-thrower. You have to evolve into a fighter."
Blink blinked, stunned for a moment by the intensity in his tone. She followed a few steps behind, her hands brushing along the brick wall beside her. The ruined factory they were standing in had long since been abandoned, rust and dust consuming its once-shining machinery. Her voice was soft, almost hesitant. "So... what now?"
Aiden didn't turn back to look at her. Instead, he smirked, the shadow of a plan already forming in his mind. "Now," he said with quiet conviction, "we begin your real training."
---
They returned to the open floor of the factory. What was once her shelter was now her battleground. Shattered beams and leftover crates would serve as makeshift obstacles.
"As a melee fighter, you lack the means for truly lethal attacks," Aiden said, crouching down to draw lines in the dust with his finger, sketching something like a combat diagram. "But that's fine. Because your gift—your portals—can become your greatest weapon, deadlier than any blade."
Blink raised an eyebrow, watching him curiously.
"You need to train until you can open and close a portal at will—without pause, without thought. Eventually, you should be able to slice through an enemy by casting a portal through them and closing it in a flash. That's your blade. That's your gun."
Her eyes widened, appalled and intrigued all at once. "Cut someone in half... with a portal?"
"Yes," he said simply. "It's not about cruelty. It's about survival. If you hesitate in the battlefield, it's your body lying in two halves instead."
She gave a shaky laugh. "I'm not sure I could do something like that. Even if I wanted to, it sounds... impossible."
"It's only impossible if you believe it is."
He stood up and walked over to a rusted wrench on the ground, tossing it to her. She caught it clumsily.
"Now," Aiden continued, "remember how you awakened your powers? You didn't 'think' where the portal would open—you just reacted. You need to return to that instinct. Try throwing a crystal without imagining a destination. Let the ability decide. You might consider attempting to throw a crystal at an object to teleport it, without determining the portal's opening location, which could result in the disintegration of the object you targeted, similar to when you awakened your powers."
"That's not how it works," Blink said, frowning as she examined the glowing pink shard in her palm. "I've tried that before. It doesn't do anything unless I focus on where I want the portal to open. To teleport something I need to open a portal, there is no way to send something directly using the crystal."
Aiden's eyes hardened. "Don't underestimate your own potential. Mutant abilities evolve, just like muscles. You've been stuck using your powers like a child learning to walk—clumsy and uncertain. What you need now is control. Precision. And the imagination to do the impossible."
Blink still looked skeptical, but the fire in his voice sparked something in her chest. She took a deep breath and gave a small nod. "Alright… I'll try. I'll do my best."
That moment of quiet resolve surprised even her. No one had ever encouraged her like this before. Most people either feared her or tried to use her, but Aiden… he was different. He pushed her, yes—but not for selfish reasons. For the first time, she felt like she was on a path that led somewhere.
'Maybe,' she thought, 'it's not so bad following someone like him.'
---
After hours of light sparring, mental exercises, and pushing her portals to new limits, the sky began to darken. Aiden looked around the dusty, crumbling walls of the factory where she had apparently been living.
"This place isn't good enough," he said bluntly. "It smells like old grease and rats, and you're sleeping on torn tarps. That's going to change."
Blink tilted her head. "Where would I even go?"
"You need better clothes. A real bed. A hot meal. And a little taste of the good life. You're not just a stray surviving anymore. You're one of my people now."
Blink felt a flicker of something deep inside her—something she hadn't felt in a long time. Belonging.
She smiled, her voice carrying a strange kind of joy. "Then let's go."
She plucked a crystal from her belt and tossed it with a flick of her wrist. The space before them twisted and cracked open into a swirl of pink and blue. Aiden stepped through first, and she followed.
Seconds later, they emerged in a dark alley across the street from a mid-range hotel.
Aiden looked up at the building with calm confidence. "Three-star hotel. Not perfect, but it'll do for today."
Inside, he booked the presidential suite with a casual wave of his credit card. The receptionist's eyes widened slightly at the generous tip he left, but Aiden ignored it. He then requested their finest dishes to be sent upstairs along with a selection of upscale clothing—specifically tailored to Blink's measurements.
The suite itself was bigger than any place she'd ever stayed in her life. Plush carpeting, a balcony view of the city skyline, and a shower that felt like standing in a tropical storm.
Blink stared at everything in awe. She couldn't help but run her hands over the velvet couch, sit on the king-sized bed, and admire the soft robes hanging in the closet. She even tried on one of the dresses brought up, twirling once in front of the full-length mirror.
Her heart felt strange. Full. Touched.
She looked toward the closed bathroom door where she could hear Aiden showering and whispered softly to herself, "I won't let him down."
No one had ever believed in her like this before.
---
Later that night, Aiden sat by the window, drinking hot tea and looking out at the glowing lights of the city.
Blink walked over, now dressed in a simple but elegant outfit that made her feel like a completely different person. She sat beside him, pulling her knees up onto the chair.
"I don't understand you," she said quietly.
Aiden smiled without turning. "I get that a lot."
"You could be anything—a hero, a villain, a king. But you chose me… to train. Why?"
Aiden's gaze didn't shift. "Because I'm not here to save the world. I'm here to shape it. And I can't do that alone."
He turned toward her then, his eyes glowing faintly with the power that simmered beneath the surface.
"I need people who can grow. Who can fight? Who can think? You have all of that, even if you don't see it yet."
She looked down at her hands, fingers curling around the pink crystal she still carried. "What if I fail you?"
"Then you get back up. And we try again."
Hearing someone being so good to her touched her heart, so she didn't want to disappoint Aiden and was determined to train hard and improve her ability. She now had a goal to work towards! Most of these came from her heart, but it cannot be denied that Aiden's 'Trust Me' field was slowly affecting her..
---
Blink's power had the potential to evolve into something world-shattering. With the right training, she could leap across battlefields, bypass defenses, and decimate enemy lines. An Alpha-level mutant? Easily. Omega? With the right help and perhaps a few modifications… juicing her with some serums absolutely.
Aiden knew this. He didn't just see her current state—he saw her future.
Aiden's goal to dominate Marvel couldn't be achieved if he was a lone ranger, and being a hero was much worse, since the idea of sacrificing his life, if the time comes, for some unknown individuals didn't appeal to him much. So, his plan to form his own team whom he could depend on was necessary.
And for his plan to work—for him to survive the coming chaos—he needed a team. Not a ragtag bunch of random allies, but a hand-picked, well-balanced strike force. Specialists.
A computer genius like Daisy. A biochemist like Jemma. A psychic. A brawler. And most of all, Knights with high strength and abilities like Blink—loyal, deadly, and willing to follow him to hell and back.
So that people would think twice before daring to provoke him!
Because the world wasn't getting better.
It was about to burn.
And when it did, Aiden would be the one standing tall above the ashes—with his people at his side.
*****
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