Disclaimer: The X-Men aren't mine, they're Marvel's. For now, all OCs are mine.

Author's note: Here we go, here we go-o-o-o!

And after 5 months I have returned to reboot the story I love. Overall plan is that I will have updates every few days as I am really just editing my old chapters mostly, with a few new ones that help advance the plot further. And for an added bonus, small fun facts will be at the end of the chapters in place of authors notes. Woo!

(*Update as of 10/22/14: Happy 3rd year anniversary of D-Factor. Please bare with me the first few chapters, as I did not get a Beta until Chapter 5. The first 4 still need some editing, and hopefully I can get around to that soon. Especially be nice with Chapters 3 and 4 which really needed some redoing but I was too lazy to do much with. I promise it gets better much faster after that. I you see anything that needs fixing in any chapter (anything weird or awkward or flat out wrong) tell me in a review. I will get on it.

The missing line of dialogue has been fixed in this chapter. So now Xavier doesn't answer a question no one asked.)

So for those new to my story, welcome! For those old readers, welcome as well! I missed you guys! And of course:

Enjoy. Read. Review.

New Guys

It was a hazy afternoon. The air hung heavily, a slight breeze now and then just stirring the still air. Sunlight flittered through the leaves of a tree that shaded a teenager leaning against a huge rock. His spikey quite literally red hair had blonde-bleached tips and he had a red goatee on his flat chin. His ears were a little small for his head, the left one was pierced with a silver hoop which shone in the afternoon sun. His nose was wide and flat, suspiciously similar to the infamous Sabretooth's. Around his neck he wore a shark tooth necklace, the bleached teeth in slight contrast to the plain white T-shirt he wore. His shorts were khaki and wadded in a ball beside him was a buttoned khaki shirt, a sewn on label was just barely visible with the name "Leo" on it.

Leaning his back against the warmed rock, the teen bent one leg up and laid a sketchpad on it. In front of him a lion cub crouched by a flower, transfixed by the white butterfly daintily perching on top. The teen laughed quietly to himself, a soft rumble, as he began sketching rapidly with his pencil.

The teen hummed slightly, perfectly content in the sun in his element. It was quiet and peaceful with little people. The Bayville Zoo was having a slow day; since he worked at the zoo he could do this sort of thing while saying he was doing his job. He was currently the only one who worked in the lion enclosure, his sole responsibility in his job, with no one to assist or monitor him. The manager entrusted him with this special assignment due to his unique disposition.

Sometimes the fact bothered him, but not today. His special case allowed him solace today.

The cub flicked his golden tail. The teenager frowned, erasing his previous sketch of the tail.

Clink.

A rock bounced off the huge stone the teen was resting against.

"What the- ow!" He grumbled suddenly in a gruff, but quiet voice. A second rock had fallen from the sky and hit his head. Rubbing his head he looked around to find the source of the projectile, and then a third rock arced down and squashed the lion cub's flower. The cub jumped back in surprise, letting out a curious growl and pawing at his now crushed butterfly prey. The small lion turned his curious gaze to the teen.

"Aww, why'd the flying rock kill my prey?" The cub's expression seemed to ask.

The teenager ruffled the cub's fur. "So sorry little guy. Don't worry, Leo will figure it out." The boy, Leo, turned. He had seen the last rock's trajectory and had a decent idea where it originated from. Leo cautiously peered through the bushes surrounding the huge rock.

Through the leaves he could see two guys, both about his age. They were evidently jocks by the looks of their letterman jackets. Leo snorted, even in this heat they had to boast who they were. One was dark skinned with dark hair, the other pale in contrast. As he watched one grabbed a rock from along the fence and threw one in the enclosure. One of the other lions was out in front, and was suddenly struck by a rock in its eye.

"YAOAOW!" The lion yelped, leaping back and roaring menacingly. The jocks threw a few more and the lion retreated at a run into the bushes.

Anger pricked at Leo. People could be so ignorant and vicious. Where were the other keepers? The ones that patrolled the zoo? What gave those jocks the right or the will to strike out at something that couldn't fight back? Who did they think they were messing with his pride?!

Leo growled softly without realizing it and glared hard at the teens. The jocks were laughing loudly and pointing out the lioness basking in the sun on the edge of the enclosure. She was an easy target. Bending his arm back, the jock with black hair and dark skin took aim.

Now he was visibly angry. His jaw tightened and his eyes glistened with cold menace. Leo growled again, but this time the human factor was gone, replaced by pure animalistic fury. His form began to change. Soft golden fur started to cover his whole body, his hair growing out into a fiery mane. His clenched jaw widened, his canines sharpening and growing longer, glistening as he bared them. His T-shirt stretched to its limit as his chest expanded, and a tail twitched out of the belt loops on his shorts. The golden tail was tipped in a fiery tuft of hair, and it curled inward before flicking out in an irritated manor.

The lion humanoid snarled, approaching the jocks through the cover of the bushes and rocks in the enclosure, like a true predator.

A rock clinked off a rock near the lioness and she leapt up agilely. She was proving herself a difficult adversary for the jocks; their first shots were misses. They continued chucking rocks with less and less accuracy.

Leo was now at the bushes just along the trench in the enclosure, designed to keep the lions in.

But Leo was no lion.

The mutant roared and leapt out from the bushes, anger ringing in the animal's voice. The jocks whipped around to face the threat face-on and stumbled back, shocked. Leo continued forward with cat-like speed and jumped the trench surrounding the enclosure with ease, perching on the railing.

"ROOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAWRRR" He blasted in their faces.

Utterly bewildered, the teenagers stood there, just staring.

The lion humanoid extended his claws from the ends of the padded fingers.

The threat now very real the jocks came to. They screamed comically and turned to run, but Leo intercepted them in a bound. Towering over them at a height of six foot seven, he was forced to crouch a bit to growl straight into their faces.

The jocks were pinned against the railing in fright, a small space between them and their predator. In an instant they fled to either side; and reaching out, Leo swiped at the two jocks, ripping the backs of their jackets. His claws just grazed their skin, but scared them enough that the pale one stumbled as he ran off, falling badly on his ankle.

By now a small crowd had gathered, including a surprised animal handler with a tranquilizer gun. Wherever he had been headed, the handler was now at his new destination. Out of reflex, the animal handler took aim and fired, but it missed.

He moved to reload it, but Leo wrenched it from his hands, snapping it in two. The handler's jaw dropped. Now at a complete loss of what to do, he just stood there.

At this point his rage ebbed, and the lion within retreated. As his primal instincts faded, Leo realized what trouble he was in.

His eyes widened blankly and he stumbled back himself, fleeing the scene.

"Damn." He whispered.

Using his knowledge of the zoo, Leo quickly escaped the curious and frightened onlookers, cutting through back routes. When he thought he was out of sight, he ducked behind a dumpster and forced his anger and lion-self down. He shifted back to his human form.

He stood back up nervously and made a bee-line for the lion enclosure, sneaking in through the back. All the way he let loose a stream of curses for his stupidity. The situation could have been handled a thousand different ways, plenty without him losing control, and yet he chose to present himself as a threat, consciously or not.

So much for starting fresh.

Panting, he let himself fall forward to the ground. Leo extended his mind into the familiar link that tied him to his brother. Mentally he sent flashes of thought to his brother, apologizing mentally.

He'd caused another incident.

Elsewhere in the city…

A blonde teen with turquoise eyes a dark forest green skater helmet skateboarded down the sidewalk. Images of Leo's predicament flashed in the teen's mind. He stopped. "Dang it, Leo! What have you done now?" He hissed.

"Hey man, are you okay?" Another skater came up behind him. Typical skater, elbow pads, wild colored helmet, pierced ears, plain tee and jeans. His voice was rough and scratchy, but still caring. The two were clearly good friends.

The blonde teen looked up at him and tugged his ear. "Uh, yeah, yeah." He tore off his helmet, his hair falling into his eyes. A few more skaters came up and stopped alongside the pair. "Just, I'm not feeling all that well," he lied, "I think I'm gonna head home."

"Oh come on Dents! Don't be a wimp, our deal remember?" A skater with short, light brown hair teased with a slight dark undertone. He carried his helmet under his arm.

The blonde skater, apparently Dents, attempted to appear sick. "Listen, I'm serious. I'll do the dare tomorrow."

"No way Dents," the skater said angrily, grabbing the blonde teen as he turned to leave. The blonde responded by shoving the other teen off and brushing off his black T-shirt. "You said you would get me an X-Men souvenir," the teen continued, clutching the blonde's arm again, "and you will. We have a bet. You aren't cheating me out of a hundred bucks." He said gritting his teeth. The skater nodded at two of the others behind him. "Socks, Matt… hold on to our buddy Dents-"

Back off, I don't wanna do this." The blonde said menacingly as two stockier boys grabbed his wiry arms in iron grips. "I ain't a thief."

The skater chuckled darkly. "I don't care right now, Benj Dents, I'm going to get that money and the bragging rights." He waved at the skater gang. "Let's go."

The Xavier Institute

The younger students were enjoying the afternoon heat by relaxing by the Institute's pool. Bobby, of course, was causing chaos: creating ice sculptures all over the lawn and poolside, then watching them melt in the sweltering heat. Many of them were X-Men or Brotherhood themed, and he had gotten tossed into the pool once already for a rather clumsy ice impression of Ray.

Professor Xavier was sitting by the pool as well. After the stressful Apocalypse ordeal everyone was starving for relaxation.

"Well Charles," Logan walked up behind the professor and placed a hand on his chair. "I guess everything's back to normal now, isn't it?"

"Yes," Xavier said thoughtfully, "the students are adjusting back very well, aren't they? I imagine some will need more than two weeks, but at least the routines are returning to normal. And I have to say our new additions are fitting in nicely as well." They both looked to the left where Colossus (who now was also known by Piotr) was soaking his feet by the edge of the pool. Behind him, Tabitha lounged on a pool chair, chatting with her companion, Amara. Colossus had arrived at the Institute a few days after it was all over, thoroughly done with Magneto. Tabitha had returned immediately after the whole ordeal, on the condition she could wear her old "Sirens" outfit instead of "that God-awful spandex mess".

As the adults watched, Bobby snuck up behind Colossus and gave a huge shove, trying to knock the friendly giant in. But the young adult was much stockier than Bobby had predicted. Failing miserably, he lost his footing and fell into the pool headfirst. Colossus began laughing extremely loud, in his booming voice. The students scattered around the pool joined in as Bobby's embarrassed head emerged from the water.

Logan and the professor chuckled. "Yeah, well I guess after what we all went through they deserve some rest."

The professor looked up at Logan, "You are just itching to get back to training them, aren't you?"

"Oh yeah."

Charles laughed. Things were sure heading back towards normal.

A flash of light and a puff of smoke appeared beside them, followed by the fuzzy blue elf: Kurt decked out in his Hawaiian summer gear. "Professor!"

"Watch it elf! You keep portin' like that behind people and someone's gonna gut ya." Logan growled.

"Yes, Kurt?" Xavier responded, completely unfazed.

"You've got to see this! On the news- they have a story on a mutant attack! It's starting now! Come on!" Kurt exclaimed.

"Alright, Kurt. Port us in."

"I want to see this too, elf." Logan said. Kurt grabbed both their shoulders and ported.

Inside the mansion, Scott, Jean, Kitty, and Rogue were hanging around the television. Their casual channel surfing had been switched to curious fascination in the story that had unfolded without them that afternoon. Kurt popped in and jumped on the back of the couch, Logan perched on the arm next to Rogue.

"It's just about to start." Rogue said looking at the professor.

A blonde news anchor appeared on the screen. "…And now for our main story. Two teenagers were attacked today by a mutant at the Bayville Zoo this afternoon. The two teens have been identified as Fred Douglas, and Keith Lerry. Both attend Bayville High. Only one of the two had serious enough injuries to send him to the hospital. The other was treated on-site. We go live now to our anchor at Bayville's hospital with more on the attack."

"Thank you, Mary," a black haired male anchor said. He stood outside a hospital room. "After speaking with the victim we discovered Fred Douglas was actually injured while attempting to flee the scene, falling and breaking his ankle. He and Lerry had minor cuts on their backs, and this was a result of the mutant's claws. There are no reports on the unidentified mutant, and all the traumatized victims and by-standers were able to say was it was a beast. The zoo has said they will not look further into this, as they believe it had been another visitor who had been upset by the teenagers who were throwing rocks at the lions. The zoo is encouraging the teens' parents to do the same. Their official statement reads: 'This incident was embarrassing enough. The mutant seems to have been protecting the lions; the two boys attacked had been assaulting the lions with rocks throughout their time at the zoo. One of the lions was blinded by their reckless behavior. If the teens' parents seek to prosecute this mutant, we will press charges against Mr. Douglas as well as Mr. Lerry." The reporter paused, a sour look passing on his face. "The zoo seems to be covering for this mutant." He paused again, and then nodded. "Candidate for mayor, Kelly has a message he would like to share with the public."

The screen changed and the former Principal Kelly was sitting in his new office.

"Oh, please. Someone turn it off now." Rogue groaned.

Kelly opened his mouth. "People of Bayville. This is what I have been warning you about. This- click."

Scott had picked up the remote and turned off the TV.

The team shifted uncomfortably. If Kelly was making comments, they couldn't be good, but no one wished to hear them.

Xavier folded his hands, "This… is troubling. Perhaps we can reach out to this mutant in trouble… We should try to find and speak to them." He thought for a moment. "Rogue, Scott, why don't you two come with me to Cerebro? Logan, you as well. I think you three would be the best to meet with this mutant."

"If we can find him." Logan grunted.

The skater crew had reached one of the side gates of the Xavier Institute. The two buffs, Socks and Matt, tossed the blonde skater, Benj Dents, to the ground. The boy said nothing, but glared at the skater he had a bet with.

The skater walked over and raised an eyebrow. "Well?"

"Alright. I'm here. What now Lucius?" He growled as he stood up and brushed himself off.

Lucius the skater laughed. "I'll give you a few minutes to figure out how you're gonna jump that gate." He grabbed Dents' upper arm. "When you're over… you find me some sort of souvenir from those muties." He whispered menacingly.

Dents shook him off and went over to the skater that had first stopped for him. Now with his helmet off, he had short black hair. "Vince, can I talk to you for a sec?"

"Of course." Vince said, his green eyes looking confused. The two walked out of earshot of the rest of the crew, speaking in the shade of a tree.

Vince fit the typical skater look to a tee. He also had more skill than Lucius in both their opinions.

"So… What's up Benj?" Vince asked. Benj Dents said nothing, but stared furiously ahead. He turned to Vince.

'You know exactly what.' Benj communicated, angrily, to him telepathically.

Vince sighed. "Look, I don't know whether he knows for sure you're a mutant," he lowered his voice at the last word, "but I know he's suspicious. People are well aware of your brother. I said nothing to him though, Benj. I swear it." Benj glared at him. "Honest! Come on man… don't do this. You don't have to break into the Xavier Institute. You saw the stuff they had on the news when it first went down. Razor blades, lasers, dude and their some frickin' powerful mutants. Just back down!"

"I can't do that, Vince." Benj growled. "I back down and Lucius wins. I can't-won't back out of this. One, I need the cash. Two? Lucius is a dick. Someone has to stand up to him."

Vince cursed. "Don't do this man. Lucius has more riding on you getting caught and stuffed than on you comin' back. And I think a serious med bill is more than a hundred bucks."

"Too late." The blonde looked around him. "Why don't you go home Vince." Not a question, a statement.

"What?"

"Go home." Benj paused. "If this gets out of control I don't want you here. You don't need to be caught trespassing."

"Neither do you!"

The teen stopped. "I… I have to do this. No longer will I back down to Lucius' ridiculous threats. This is the last time he goes snooping in my family business."

"Dude-"

"I'm already neck deep here!"

Vince opened his mouth, but the look on his friend's face stopped any argument Vince was still ready to give.

He caved.

"Be careful." Vince said, defeated.

Benj gripped Vince's forearm, and the latter did the same. It was a little more personal than a handshake or high-five, but not as intimate as a hug. "Thanks, Vince. I'll let you know what happens." Benj said as he walked away.

"Don't die…" Vince muttered pathetically, before he dashed away.

The blonde rejoined the skater crew.

"Ready to roll Dents?" Lucius asked. Benj nodded as he pulled a pair of gloves out of his backpack.

It was scary that he had already figured it all out.

The gloves had rough pads that would allow him to grip the metal bars on the gate easily. They were black with yellow stripes around the knuckles. Rubbing his hands together Benj jumped up and grabbed the iron gate bars. With nimble skill he scaled the gate in a matter of seconds. He jumped from the top of the gate and landed gently without a sound.

Lucius came up to the gate and talked to Benj through the bars, "Just remember to grab me a souvenir and that hundred bucks is yours, if not…" He grinned.

"Yeah, got it." Benj said harshly, turning toward the mansion. Carefully walking forward, he examined the building. He could hear some far off laughter to his right, so he inched to the left. He dashed forward to press himself flat against the mansion's wall.

Hadn't died yet, he must be doing alright.

He figured the best way to get something from the building was by getting into one of the students' rooms. Picking the first balcony he found, he used his mutant power to help give him a lift to the second floor balcony. The air blasted him up so he could haul himself over the edge.

Landing silently on the balcony, he focused his attention on the door. Although he assumed it would be locked, he attempted to open it first, and without any resistance, it opened.

No turning back now. He thought to himself.

Professor Xavier turned his wheelchair to exit the room when a light on the arm of his wheelchair flashed. In response, so did the watch-like communicators on the oldest X-Men's wrists.

The professor pursed his lips before he said, "I believe we have an unwelcome visitor."

"There was a break in?" Scott asked.

"Not was, is, Scott," He answered. He paused. "Scott, take Jean and search outside, let the other students know, but be careful! Rogue, you will be in charge of the search inside with Kitty and Kurt. Check the student's rooms. I'll monitor the search from Cerebro with Logan, hopefully then I can better pinpoint where exactly he is.

"Remember, be careful. We have no idea what this intruder is capable of."

"A mutant, or a human?" Rogue asked.

Xavier closed his eyes, trying to sense the intruder. It was slightly difficult with the activity on the grounds, and Xavier's still slight weakness from being one of Apocalypse's horsemen.

"Mutant."

Scott stopped in his tracks of leaving the room. "Wait, we're not talking the Brotherhood are we?" He asked.

"I don't know Scott. I do not recognize their mind. If it is, then they have found a new recruit." The professor answered. "Let's go team."

Benj entered the dorm room.

Now which X-Men's room is this? He thought.

He knew the X-Men by appearance, but he didn't memorize their names. He wasn't one of those people.

He looked about the room. On the right was a bed and a closet on the far wall. On the left he saw a dresser. Walking up to it he saw there was a collage of pictures. Most had a girl with short brown hair with white strands framing her face. The girl was fairly pale. He instantly recognized her as one of the X-Men, but couldn't recall her name.

There was a black glove sticking out of one of the drawers. Curious and feeling filthier by the minute, Benj opened the drawer. Inside was a pile of old worn-out gloves.

Shrugging he grabbed one and stuck it in his pocket. It would be his fail-safe as he kept searching. Then he looked back at the collage. One of the photos had the girl sitting under a tree reading a book and soft warm light filtering down through the leaves. He smiled, and took the photo.

Suddenly he heard the inner doorknob jiggling, as though someone was putting a key in. Panicking, Benj dove into the closet.

The door opened and Rogue entered. Benj held his breath.

Rogue walked in and she looked around. Slowly, she began to search her room, looking for anything out of place. She looked at the dresser, Everything minus the one photo was there, but she didn't notice. Glancing to her left she noticed the balcony door was still open. Benj started regretting not closing it. Rogue shut and locked the balcony door.

"Alright, Ah know ya're in here." She said, turning around in circles defensively. She took off one of her gloves.

Benj sat back and thought on his options. He didn't want to get caught, he didn't want to hurt the girl, mentally sighing he concentrated hard on coming up with a psychic blast. He'd only managed to create a devastating psychic blow once before, and compared to the alternative of flinging her out the window, it was the one that would do the least amount of harm. He didn't want to seriously hurt this girl, it would only make things worse, and he couldn't afford getting caught in his mind.

"Sorry," he said as he jumped out of the closet and sent the psychic blast he'd mustered up at Rogue. The girl turned at his voice to see her attacker briefly before reeling from the unexpected assault. Rogue shrieked as she feinted.

Charles gasped, and removed the Cerebro helmet hastily.

"What is it Chuck?" Logan asked, knowing it wouldn't be good.

"I lost mental contact with Rogue."

"Arrooo! WHAT?" Logan roared.

"She said she found the intruder, then I lost her." Charles sighed. "She's unconscious, but- where are you going Logan?" Professor X asked.

Logan was marching toward the door. "I'm going to go see if I can find Rogue and this intruder." He snarled as he stormed out.

Benj knelt down at the side of Rogue. Luckily for him, she was out cold. He checked that she was breathing quickly and then scanned the rest of her. His eyes were drawn from her pale face to something on her wrist. It was some type of watch, or bracelet, it was a dark green with a red X across a domed bulge. It flashed interestingly, so he unclipped it from her wrist, fumbling with his gloves still on, and stuck it in his pocket. It looked like he had found an adequate "souvenir".

He stood up and looked at the balcony door. He had begun to move toward it when the interior door was knocked down. Benj spun around.

"Arrrrrrrrrrrrrooooooo" A short, bulky, muscular man came crashing in. Wolverine leapt into the room with his claws extended. Benj's eyes widened and he backed up to the door.

He knew who that X-Man was. The infamous Wolverine.

I'm dead.

Logan looked from him to Rogue on the floor. Benj saw him making sense of the situation through a familiar animalistic rage filled haze. He tensed and jumped at Benj suddenly. With a swift reflexive movement, Benj slid under the older mutant. He twisted his arms and bent the air behind Logan to propel him out the balcony door. Glass shattered and Logan soared over the balcony to the outside yard.

Benj swore as he stood back up, partially from the glass now embedded in his arm, partially from the fact he had just sent a man out the window. Now he had to get gone.

"Holy… oh gosh." Benj's eyes bulged as he peered over the balcony. "I just threw an X-Man through a window."

But he knew he had to move so, with his way now clear, he jumped off the balcony and landed beside the still Logan.

He stepped around the still form, hoping the man was unconscious, assuming he was unconscious until he lunged at him. He snarled and slashed his claws at the teen. Benj jumped backwards faster than he thought possible and ran toward the gate, a stitch growing in his side.

With the threat of an angry man with claws or an asthma attack… he chose the asthma attack.

Suddenly, Benj felt a disturbance in the air behind him. Performing a spectacular aerial jump he flipped over a red beam of energy, Cyclop's eye blast.

"Put a shield up Jean," Scott said, "we don't want him leaving."

"Got it."

The skater ran forward, straight into an invisible barrier, bouncing back.

Benj, seeing his way of escape was close, turned around. He already saw that the skater crew had fled. Like a cornered animal, he was prepared to fight. Kurt and Kitty had come out from the house to join the pursuit, followed by Professor X. The X-Men were closing in slowly on him.

Benj said nothing, but looked back at his blocked way of escape.

The professor came forward with his hands raised. "We just want to talk to you." The X-Men had formed a semi-circle around the frightened Benj.

Logan was marching up behind the younger mutants. "You may want ter talk professor, but I much rather tear this guy apart!" He snarled.

"Logan, stop." Xavier silenced him, though an angry huff escaped from Wolverine's nose.

Benj definitely was not about to surrender now thanks to Logan's words. Benj took a fighting stance and blasted an incredibly strong and desperate wind gust at his opponents, causing them to fly backwards. Only Logan was able to hold on, due to his metal bones.

He sprinted past the X-Men, who were picking themselves up, and grabbed his skateboard from his backpack. Benj jumped into the air and stuck his board beneath him. Logan followed in pursuit. Benj followed the past to go past the pool.

The younger students halted their activities as the two approached.

"Don't just stand there! Stop him!" Logan barked.

Bobby jumped out of the pool and iced up the sidewalk quickly approaching the skater. Benj saw it too late and skidded across the ice, throwing him from the board. He recovered by summersaulting and then ran, limping slightly on his ankle.

Ray, AKA Berserker, stood up from his recliner and momentarily glared at Benj, "I've seen you before…" he mumbled. His eyes narrowed in recognition and took greater joy in what he was about to do.

Ray took aim, (Benj was not the fastest runner, being more used to skating for speed, the stitch growing in his side, and his possibly twisted ankle) and blasted him with lightning.

Benj twisted in pain, and buckled over. The electricity coursed through his body from where he was struck in the side. He was hit again. His consciousness slipped away as electricity continued to pour into him.

Bayville Zoo

Leo walked up to the manager's office. Sighing, he knocked.

"Come in Leo."

The teen entered. A short man with rough gray hair and a mustache sat at the desk, to his right sat the assistant manager that was specifically assigned to the mutants that worked at the zoo. He was a mutant himself, and his was that of a snake, his entire body was covered in green snake scales.

"Sssssssit down Leo," he hissed in a deep voice.

Leo swallowed. "Yes sir, Mr. Severus."

Mr. Severus flicked his tongue, "I told you to call me Ssssseth, Leo. None of thisssss ssssir ssstuff."

The manager held up his hand. Both mutants turned to him. "Leo, Mr. Severus and I have been considering what this incident will mean for you. We understand that you wish to keep this job right?"

"Of course Mr. Walkman, I love working here… and we… we can used the money." Leo's nervousness was obvious.

Mr. Walkman stood up and walked over to sit on the edge of his desk by Leo. "Don't worry Leo, we aren't firing you, not yet. We'll give you another chance."

Leo sank back into his chair. He wouldn't have to worry about explaining to his brother why he was fired, maybe he hadn't seen the news either.

"But we can't jusssst look the other way thisss time Leo." Seth hissed. "You'll be on temporary leave, until thisss sssstory fizzlessss out."

Leo opened his mouth to argue but Seth hissed again. There would be no arguing with him. "…Okay. When can I come back?" He asked.

Mr. Walkman frowned, and stroked his mustache. "Tomorrow if you can, we'll need some help bandaging up the lions. Thanks to those teenage hooligans, three lions have shattered paws, and one's eye is in bad shape. You're the only one we can risk to go into the lion enclosure while they're conscious."

"Of course, sir." Of course, the human employees were never risked. Mr. Walkman was fond of mutants, their abilities promised more. But it didn't keep him from using them. Leo was fine with it today, especially since it would be the last thing he did at the zoo for a while. Sensing that this meeting was over, he left.

There would be enough at home waiting for him.

Fun Fact #1: Leo and Benj actually spawned from the same character in an original story of mine: A human named Benjamin, nicknamed "Airsurfer" for his hover-board, who finds he can turn into a lion humanoid on an alien planet. So Benj got the appearance of the kid and Leo the power. I like them better separate.

Fun Fact #2: Tyler came from my first attempt at a fanfic for the X-Men movies. He briefly appeared as a man who received the mutant cure but it began failing, leaving him nightmarish. Also, originally his name was Tyson. But Tyson Dyson is a bit too rhyme-y for me.