Darwin SI: Adapting To Gods and Monsters.

A short One-shot. Hope you enjoy.

Chapter 1 - Adapting To Fire.


-Armando-

I scanned the room, noting how most people kept to themselves, with only a few huddled in small, quiet groups.

The space wasn’t what I had expected for something as prestigious as Star Labs, but then again, this was Gotham.

Rundown was Gotham’s middle name, and the flickering light panel above and the peeling white paint on the walls only solidified that image.

Even Star Labs couldn’t escape Gotham’s decay.

I shivered as a cold breeze blew in through the front door.

Instinctively, my body reacted and adapted: hair sprouted along my arms and chest to counter the chill.

Thankfully, I was wearing baggy clothes, hiding the transformation from anyone who might be paying attention.

A moment later, I forced my body back under control, preventing a complete shift that would’ve left me looking like a furball.

"Armando Munoz?"

I glanced up as my name was called. Time to face the music.

I followed the attendant into another room, this one lined with machinery that screamed expensive. Star Labs proper, it seemed.

The attendant left me alone with an older man in a lab coat who didn’t bother looking up from the file in front of him.

"Take a seat, Mr. Munoz," he said, his voice gruff but not unfriendly.

The name tag on his coat caught my eye—*Dr. Silas Stone.* If I remembered correctly, this was Victor Stone’s father, the same Cyborg who played for the big leagues.

“Thanks.” I slid into the seat and clasped my hands to stop them from fidgeting.

He didn’t waste time. “Armando, it says here you’re here for a metahuman evaluation. Is that right?” He glanced at me over his glasses.

“Y-yes, sir.” I hated the stammer in my voice. It made me sound weak and nervous. Not a good combo in a harsh place like Gotham.

“Relax, son,” he said, his voice softer now. “We’re just trying to understand your abilities. Nothing to worry about.”

I took a deep breath, calming my racing heart.

Dr.Stone returned to his file, confirming my age, ethnicity, and residence—a rundown apartment in Gotham’s worst part.

He didn’t know the half of it. The truth was, this body’s original owner, the real Armando Munoz, had been homeless and dead when I found myself inhabiting it.

If it hadn’t been for the mutation that kicked in and regenerated the body, I’d still be dead in that alleyway.

“Now, could you tell me what you can do?”

I hesitated before pulling off my jacket. No words could describe this better than showing it.

Silas’s eyes widened when he saw my torso—a bright green hue covered in thin hair follicles. The green wasn’t a tan or a rash. No, this was chlorophyll.

“Chlorophyll?” Silas blinked in disbelief. “You’re a… plant-animal hybrid?”

I gave a grim smile, remembering how I’d woken up in that alley, starving. “I was on the verge of death. But when I stepped into the sun, my skin turned green. It was like my body adapted to the hunger.”

Silas leaned forward, fascinated. “And your power is adaptation?”

“To anything. Maybe 'everything'.” The words hung in the air between us, and I could see from his expression that he understood what this could mean in a world like ours.

He studied me for a moment longer before asking, “So why the test? You clearly know what you’re capable of.”

I pulled my jacket back on. “I need control. My adaptations are random, automatic… and sometimes permanent. I can’t always stop them.”

I couldn’t keep the bitterness from my voice. “I can manage to keep some things under wraps, like the chlorophyll skin and the thick hair, but it’s a constant battle that needs consistent mental focus.”

He nodded as if this was what he had expected.

I continued, biting my lip for the second reason I was here.

"I was also hoping to meet with the Justice League."

“And what do you hope to gain from meeting the League?”

His guard was up now. I knew it would be. Mentioning the League always put people on edge.

“Because…” I swallowed the lump in my throat and summoned my courage. “I want to be a hero.”

There it was. The truth. And maybe a little lie. The desire to be a hero wasn’t just about doing good. It was about survival. 'Power' was survival.

---

Dr. Stone didn’t pick up the phone and call the Justice League like I’d hoped. I couldn’t blame him.

He probably thought I was just another kid with a dangerous power, trying to play hero.

Still, he told me to come back tomorrow and slipped me a twenty-dollar bill. Guess he could tell from the state of my clothes that I could use it.

I stepped out of Star Labs, the cool breeze hitting my face as I shoved my hands into my pockets. Maybe I could finally buy some decent shoes with the twenty he gave me.

My reflection in a nearby store window caught my attention.

I looked like a mess. Tall, black, sharp jawline, brown eyes, but my dirty curls peeked out from under a beanie, and my old jacket hung off me like a hand-me-down from a different era. My jeans were torn, and my boots had holes in them. If I wasn’t careful, I’d step on another rusty nail and have to grow more layers of skin to compensate.

Boom!

An explosion rattled the air, and I froze. People were already screaming, running for cover as smoke billowed from the top floor of Star Labs.

I shivered. If I'd hang around for a few more minutes...I would have been caught up in whatever mess this was.

'Run,' a voice in my head said. 'This isn’t your fight.'

I turned to leave, but then I heard it.

“P-Please! J-Just kill me! Leave everyone else alone!”

'Dr. Stone?!'

My blood ran cold as I looked back. Firefly was hovering above the building, flames spewing from his flamethrower as Dr. Stone dangled from his grip.

The terror in Stone’s eyes cut through me like a knife. The Kindness he showed me was still fresh in my mind. He didn’t deserve to die like this.

Without thinking, I ran toward the chaos. I didn’t have a plan. Hell, I didn’t even have useful 'skills'. But I had my power—unreliable as it was—and that had to count for something.

I grabbed the lid of a trash can and hurled it at Firefly. It missed, clanging uselessly against the building, but it was enough to get his attention.

Firefly turned to me, his face hidden behind his mask. “Who the hell are you?”

“Let him go,” I growled, my voice deepening as my power randomly kicked in, my body reacting to the threat he posed and wanting to resolve this without violence maybe? I could be reaching.

“Or I’ll make you.”

The words contained a rumble and I could feel my vocal chords subtly expand to emote more confidently.

Despite so, he laughed, raising his flamethrower.

“You’re gonna make me? Oh, I’d 'love' to see you try, freak.”

The flames hit me before I could brace myself. Fire ripped across my skin, and I screamed as the pain tore through me.

My hair ignited, my skin melted, and every nerve screamed for it to stop. But even through the agony, I could feel something shifting inside me. My body—my mutation—was responding.

And then the pain stopped.

I blinked, confused. My skin felt strange—hard. I looked down and saw my body covered in something smooth and metallic. The flames licked at my new armor but left no burn.

I had adapted.

I clenched my fists, feeling the weight of my new form. The fire wasn’t just being deflected. It was being 'absorbed'. The energy from Firefly’s flames coursed through me, feeding the metal that now coated my skin.

“What the hell?!” Firefly’s voice cracked as he saw me walking through his flames, unscathed. “How are you…?”

“Your turn,” I muttered, raising a finger that glowed with the fire I’d absorbed.

Three beams of golden light shot from my hand, tearing through his armor. Firefly howled in pain, his jetpack sputtering as he fell from the sky, taking Dr. Stone with him.

I shifted, my metal form melting away into thick fur just in time for Dr. Stone to land safely on my back. Firefly wasn’t as lucky, his body slamming into the pavement with a sickening thud.

I stood, breathing heavily, as the flames around us finally died out.

I hadn’t just survived. I'd actually won.