It was of no drastic surprise to Xavier that his metal had been stopped midstream, however it was curious that as she exerted focus upon stopping the metal the Dread Energy which surrounded her once again gained movement for a split second. As he watched Sophia situate herself he worked on upon calling the metal present on the cog to form a thin line infront of him in anticipation for retaliation, it didn't seem as though she was going to be confronting him in close quarters just yet. It was hard for him to get a good bead on exactly what type of powers the woman possessed, she had first intended it to be used as a shield however it had been used to exert an unseen pressure on his metal to halt its movement. Before he could come up with a decent hypothesis the woman moved her hand to her face and Xaviers muscles tensed in preparation, the liquid metal infront of him stretching a quarter inch into the air in response to his muscles. One thing was certain, his defense couldn't be dropped and the woman could not be taken lightly until her abilities became clear. 

In the same moment that she would press the button upon her glasses the Dread Energy within the air around Xavier gathered in an unseen wall infront of him which finished just as the lights met with the unseen 'wave'. As his eyes had never left the womans face Xavier became aware for a split moment that the lights ceased movement for a very brief moment in the same space which he would lose connection with his energy. In one instant Xavier sent a command to the metal infront of him and it shot up into the air just as the womans beam of light would shift in power to that resembling a strong laser beam, creating a thin 5x5 wall of metal which served only to hide Xavier from sight momentarily; such a small amount of Dread Metal would serve little defensive capabilities against the beam. As the beam tore through the air Xavier would have slipped backwards and off of the cog, molding the shadows beyond the cogs edge to vaguely resemble his form in an attempt to make it seem as though he were hiding.

Though he could not physically see what had happened, the sounds Xavier had heard as well as what his energy could relay to him caused him to take mental note of what Sophia had done. There was certainly more to her than met the eye. Utilizing his energy he kept track of Sophias placement and silently but quickly maneuvered the cog system beneath her so that he could attempt to flank her. What would remain of the metallic wall would be scarce droplets scattered upon the cogs surface, looking innocently enough but holding just as much threat as ever. As Xavier began to rise upon a cog behind Sophia the droplets would quiver and rise into the air, a path being layed out for each droplet. In an instant the orbs shot through the air like bullets, each one picking a seemingly random front based angle of attack so as to keep Sophias attention faced forward. 

Stretching out his right hand Xavier curled his fingers towards Sophias back and willed a rather small amount of Dread Energy to the center of his palm. The skin of his hand and the air directly infront of it crackled briefly with the energy before a slim bolt of Dreadful Lightning screamed from his palm and towards the middle of Sophias back. The overall effect of the lightning would be small but if contact were made it would be enough to send a moderately painful shock throughout her entire body.