Ethereal | (X-Men: First Class)

9. Strong

Not easily upset, resistant to harmful or unpleasant influences; physically powerful, capable of exerting great physical force.

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In a puff of red smoke, the group disappeared, but right before they did, Shaw opened his hand and released Alex's energy.

Darwin turned and shielded them.

Marianne threw her hands up.

The explosion washed over them in a blaze of red light and fire and heat - Marianne watched it come closer, closer, closer, and she pushed back.

The fire parted around them like Moses and the Red Sea, swirling to the side and above them, washing over everything else like a tidal wave but never touching or even coming close to them. She pushed harder, forcing the energy away from them, around them, anywhere else but near them.

The explosion did not last long. It was just seconds of fire and heat and light and pushing back, pushing away, and then it ended, leaving them surrounded by clouds of smoke and what remained of the facility. Marianne didn't lower her hands. It turned out to be the good thing to do, as a piece of the ceiling above fell and would have crushed them had it not been for her. She heard Raven squeak and Sean yelp as the debris was deflected and fell to the ground next to them.

Then it was silent. No one dared to speak.

Marianne waited a few moments longer, waiting for the smoke to clear. When it had mostly been cleared out, she finally lowered her hands and let her defenses drop.

She looked around. The part of the building they had been in and everything close had been destroyed, leaving only some half-obliterated structures and piles of slightly-smoking rubble. Half of the facility was still standing, giving them enough light in the darkness to see the destruction and all of the corpses that still covered the grounds - those that hadn't been burned to a crisp by the explosions, at least.

Hank was the first one to break the silence. "Oh my God."

Marianne could not have said it better herself.

Finally, she cleared her throat and softly said, "Is everyone alright?"

Raven made a soft, pained noise, but when Marianne turned to check on her, she was nodding her head, tears running down her cheeks. Hank, although unhealthily pale, nodded as well. Alex was staring blankly across the devastation but seemed physically unharmed. Sean looked like he was going to be sick.

"Sean?"

He nodded, his voice raspy as he said, "I'm fine."

Marianne turned to Darwin, who had been standing completely still and had not made a sound. "Darwin."

He blinked after a moment and looked down at her.

"Are you alright?" She asked, reaching up and placing a hand on his shoulder. He tensed under her touch for a moment but relaxed just as quickly.

"I'm good," he said. "Thanks to you. That was- thank you."

She nodded. "No thanks needed."

"Do you think you could have survived that?" Alex said suddenly. When Marianne looked at him, his eyes were haunted as he stared at Darwin. "If she hadn't saved you."

There was a long pause as Darwin stared back at Alex.

"I don't know."

"But your mutation-" Hank began, cutting himself off in confusion before starting over. "Shouldn't it have protected you?"