18... INSTINCT

~Omni Pov~

The room fell into an eerie silence as all eyes fixated on Alex's figure. His ascent from the floor was like an unnatural spectacle, a slow rise that seemed to defy the laws of gravity...

"Somethin's... not right." Logan muttered, his voice carrying an instinctual warning.

As Alex straightened up, an inexplicable shift in the atmosphere ensued, a sudden chill in waves sent shivers through everyone present.

Alex eyes, once a vibrant green, had transformed into pools of soulless white, against pitch-black sclera's, an unsettling metamorphosis that sent a wave of foreboding to the onlookers.

"What in the world...?" Beast's apprehension surged twofold. The air crackling with an unmistakable sense of danger to it.

"Alex?" Anna's voice trembled, witnessing her friend's unnerving alteration, he was like a deviation from the natural order. Something about his presence was, abnormal to her...

With each step Alex took, Logan and Beast instinctively retreated, Alex's unnerving gaze fixated on them all.

"Let's not make any rash moves..." Logan cautioned, his voice low and wary, as he steadily backed away.

*Fwoosh*

In a blink, Alex vanished from their sight, reappearing in front of Logan.

"Damn it!" Logan's exclamation was drowned by the swiftness of the ensuing action.

Reacting on sheer instinct, he lunged forward, aiming for a decisive strike. Yet, Alex moved fluidly, effortlessly evading the attack with an almost prophetic grace to his movements...

His movements were a seamless ballet, synchronized with an otherworldly sense of anticipation. Alex's emotionless white eyes bore into them.

In an instant, with incomprehensible speed, Alex delivered a devastating punch that sent Logan hurtling across the training room.

*SHATTER!!!*

Within the span of a milli-second, Logan covered a distance of 30 meters, crashing into the reinforced steel wall effortlessly, rendered unconscious by a single, devastating blow...

Beast felt the overwhelming force ripple through his bones as Alex's strike landed.

"He must have shattered the sound barrier at least three times over..." the blue giant grunted, realizing he was no longer facing Alex, but something entirely different.

"Anna, stay behind me!" Beast's command echoed, yet surprisingly, Alex didn't attack her.

Instead, he propelled himself toward the towering figure of Beast.

Swift and agile, Beast anticipated Alex's move, but the latter maneuvered with an ethereal nimbleness that defied comprehension.

"Enough!" Jean's telekinetic voice thundered, attempting to seize control of Alex.

Yet, Alex eluded her grasp, evading her telekinetic submission with a grace that bordered on the unearthly, flipping effortlessly to the other side of the room.

Jean was stunned. Never had anyone dodged her telekinetic hold before.

Alex's motionless gaze then fixed onto Jean, as though she was now his target. But before he made a move, he charged toward Beast, launching a thunderous kick that shattered the sound barrier, sending the blue giant hurtling into the ceiling with even greater force than Logan had endured.

Jean realized the gravity of the situation. Both her teammates lay incapacitated, and soon, she felt a sense of helplessness creeping in.

'But why did he target Beast?' She thought, why not her?

Her powers seemed futile against him, evading even the invisible. Panic quickly gripped her thoughts.

"Oh no." she muttered, hastily conjuring a protective shield around herself and Anna, hoping to ward off Alex's impending advance.

Yet, he walked past Anna, his presence casting a shadow reminiscent of the grim reaper. His gaze pierced through their souls.

"Alex! Come back to us!" Jean pleaded desperately, feeling the weight of helplessness settle in.

'I can't reach him!...' Her mind raced, calling out to the Professor for aid. 'Professor!? Professor!?'

'Jean? Is that you? What's wrong!?' The professor responded.

'I-I don't know! It's Alex! S-Somethings wrong with him!' She shouted. Alex, now looking at her through her force field, began walking closer, and closer...

His fists rose slowly, then his arms suddenly flexed to an extreme point, so much so, that the veins in his arms began bulging out...

With a swift motion-

*BAMM!!!!*

"Guh!!" Jean shouted, her shield now destroyed with nothing, but a simple thrust of his fists...

As he was about to grab her, Jean quickly raised her arms, to guard her face, fearing what might come...

However, seconds had passed, however, it felt like an eternity...

She felt Alex's Body fall on top of her own?

"Wha... What?" She asked. Alex's figure now in her arms. Yet, only panting could be heard...

"Huffs..."

'Alex?' Jean questioned. She realized the tension that was there a mere moment ago, completely disappeared.

She saw his face, his breathes labored, and sweat pouring...

~ Alex's Pov ~

"Urghhh..."

I clutched my head in agony. My entire body felt as if it was on fire...

All I remember, was that I was training...

'Where, am I?' I thought, annoyed. Being unconscious wasn't a fun experience.

I then opened my eyes more, that heaviness felt like it was if I was waking up here all over again. I looked around, seeing the room that mirrored the one where I was initially recovering in...

Still, other than sore muscles, and such. I was fine. No wounds could be seen at all... But, with soreness like this made me feel like I was in some sort of a fight.

*Door Opens...*

I turned, seeing Logan, Beast, Ororo and Jean. However, after moving a feat past the entrance, all of them at that.

I looked at their faces, Ororo having an expression of caution, while the rest? Apprehension, maybe fear...

'Just what happened?' I could remember nothing.

"Can someone explain to me what happened here?" I asked, I didn't care for anything else at the moment. Curiosity was killing me.

Instead, they looked at each other for a moment.

"You can go..." Logan grunted.

Beast nodded at what his friend had said, but then I noticed how beaten and bruised up Beast was... Either way, the discussion ended with Ororo nodding, stepping forward...

"I don't know much... But, from what they told me, they said you, changed. I think, it's better if I showed it to you..." Ororo offered. She handed me a tablet, showing me what seemed to be the camera footage.

I watched, remembering the scenes from the fight with equal clarity... Everything was normal, until I was hit by that gaseous attack Anna released. It looked like it did a number on me... That was all I remembered.

Interestingly enough, I then saw Logan turn, and Beasts hair rising wildly. I looked back at myself, rising off the ground, as if I was possessed...

'That posture...' I thought, remembering how similar I looked to daniel from lookism. This wasn't a coincidence.

I watched how I faught everyone, and within a minute. Those in the training room with me were rendered useless... The movements I displayed were uncanny, yet beautiful in a technical sense. Off, yet methodical. Powerful, yet efficient. Fast, yet effective.

I didn't think I could be capable of such movements... I looked like a machine built for combat. Precise to the point it was borderline unnecessary. If this was what Daniel looked like from an on-looker's perspective, no wonder they called him a monster...

'Ultra instinct...' It all made sense.

It was the only, thing that made sense, I checked off all the boxes. Unconscious, perfect muscle memory, Prodigious talent, and a insane physiology. However, I never used any of the martial arts I had learned here. Even if they weren't many in my repertoire, I didn't use even one in that fight...

'Did that state deem them unworthy of anything but brute force?'

I was stronger than I was before too. I knew how fast I was, yet I doubt I could move that quickly.

I then gave back the tablet.

"So... Mind telling us what that was?" Logan said.

I could tell that he was upset. The person known for his endurance and potent healing factor, was rendered practically useless in a single hit from me...

I exhaled...

"I don't know what that was either, but it seemed like I fighting you while I was unconscious..." I said, slowly breaking it to them. Some looked at me unbelievably. I don't blame them. I would be too.

This was too intelligent to just be, unconscious movement... It wasn't that rare, but to do it to the degree I did was borderline insane.

"...This wasn't all either... I'm not sure if you saw it here, but they said your eyes had changed too..." Ororo chided.

I sighed internally. If I wasn't sure about it being ui before, I was damn sure now. I actually partially transformed.

I checked my panel discreetly, seeing if anything had changed;

-------------

- Striking Strength: 125.5 Tons ⟶ 297 Tons

- Grip Strength: 38.3 Tons ⟶ 68.92 Tons

- Lifting Strength: 44.6 ⟶ 71.51 Tons

- Dexterity: 12 ⟶ 16 (10 for a normal human male)

- Movement Speed: Mach 1.5 ⟶ 2.7

- Attack Speed: Mach 4.8 ⟶ Mach 6.9

- Reaction Speed: 11.7 ⟶ 12.3 fold greater than Attack speed

- I.Q: 198 ⟶ 207

-------------

Forms (New);

Ultra Instinct: The state of ones body acting on its own with utmost efficiency. Combined with beyond perfect physiology. Your body will automatically strive to push itself to the brink, and break its limits in this state. Your physical stats will also increase by 2-fold, while your reaction speed 5-fold...

Skills;

Telepathy Immunity: Allows your mind to be unreadable to any outside sources...

Adaptive Copy: Your ability to copy movements is unmatched, will increase when put to the test...

Perfect Muscle Memory: Repetitive action is unnecessary with this boon. It allows for efficient muscle usage when doing physical tasks. Helps for unconscious and reflexive movement to be perfect.

Martial genius: Martial arts techniques will come as naturally as breathing to you. A glance will make you be able to understand and pick apart a technique.

Perfect Body: Your body is perfect in every sense, the stronger you grow, the more you body will be refined, and honed to match your growing strength, eventually making you perfect...

Hanma Physiology: Your growth is passive but incredibly small if left untapped. You will grow stronger from every fight you encounter, as well as possessing all the abilities of this fiendish lineage. Over-training no longer hinders you, only utter exhaustion will...

Garou's Talent: Your talent in martial art's is like no other, with this boon, you will have the infinite physical potential of Garou, and his supreme talents! Your strength and technique will grow tremendously the more pressure you are put under...

Super-Genius: Your mind is wired like a super-computer and more. With this boon, you will absorb information like no human before whilst almost forever retaining it, and your thinking capabilities will be boosted based on the knowledge you have...

Minor Regeneration IV: Your body has evolved and has adapted to the constant assaults... Through the bloody beatings, your body rejects being put in a pitiful state ever again, thus increasing your natural recovery time by 7-fold compared to before...

----------------

As I had thought. This was a form, I even had a section just for it as well. This just got a lot more interesting...

END

Next chapter