Hey guys! As you'll know if you've been reading my authors notes, I've been a little quiet lately as I got married and moved house. It was one of the most amazing days of my life and I've gotta admit I'm a little sad it's all over! But onwards to marital bliss ;D I shall try my best to get more writing done now, and to those that read Crossed Paths too, I'll promise I'll get that updated ASAP. My mind has obviously been a little preoccupied as of late, but I'll try and get back into the swing of things again. So here's chapter 3 of Born For This, I'm so happy you guys are enjoying this!


Eugene had said he'd like to show them the training simulator, and start right away. Blair was giddy with excitement; so giddy she'd shot into the air. The look on her face was priceless. Beatrix and Brandon had discovered they too could fly or float instead of walking, and Brandon had said it was much more fun!

"Jeez, why haven't we been doing this all our lives?!" He cried, thrilled.

"You know why." Benjamin answered gruffly, walking along with Eugene and Sandra, his hands in his pockets.

"Why are you walking lame-o? The air is fiiiine." Blair grinned as she zoomed forward. Beatrix giggled, doing a somersault in the air, then squealing with delight.

"I'm sure it is." Benjamin said flatly.

"Scared you can't do it after all these years?" Blair taunted, hovering above his head and pulling a face at him.

Benjamin rolled his eyes, swatting at her. He was mostly annoyed because she'd banged the nail on the head; he was a bit scared. No, scared was the wrong word; cautious was the right one.

He'd spent 9 years believing him and his supposedly remaining family would be killed if he ever flew, or used any powers again. It was extremely hard to believe that he was in no threat if he used them. The way Sandra and Eugene had gone on, it was almost as if the people threatening to kill them were the real ones in danger.

Were they really that dangerous? That powerful?

And his parents. His mother, his aunts, his uncles, all alive? All alive, and stuck in a prison, somewhere not so far away. Suddenly, a thought occurred to him.

"Sandra, Eugene, I just realized something." Benjamin spoke quietly, not wanting to upset his elated sister and cousins.

"What's that dear?" Sandra asked.

"You said my parents, our parents, were imprisoned. If they're imprisoned, why don't they just bust out themselves? They have superpowers don't they? That's where we inherited them from."

"Well, it isn't as simple as that, sadly." Sandra said, looking straight ahead as they continued to walk. Jeez, how big was this place?

"No, your parents, aunts and uncles are powerless."

"Powerless? He, he took their powers?" Benjamin stammered.

"Yes. How, we don't know. Why, we don't know. Perhaps to harness them for himself? Whatever he plans, he's not managed it in the nine years he's had them. But, this is stage two of the plan. When you go undercover, you need to find out as much as you can about their powers. What he's done with them, where they are stored. Getting your parents back isn't just for sentimental reasons. They aren't a huge amount of help without their powers. But getting them home and safe is our number one plan of action, of course." He added hastily, after seeing the sharp look he received from Sandra. She wanted her stepkids home safe, that was most important to her, and she was sure Benjamin and the others would agree.

"He took their powers. So surely, if he's figured out how to extract powers, or whatever, couldn't he do that to us?"

"More than likely. This is why you need to train, train, train. And keep your head down when you're in there. It is essential that no one suspects who any of you are. Anyway, we'll come to all that in time to come. I want you four ready for this, it's not going to be a walk in the park."

Benjamin shrugged, allowing himself to hover a few inches off the ground. It wasn't like he'd ever had a walk in the park anyway.


"I LOVE HAVING SUPER POWERS! HYAHHHH, HAHAHAH, TAKE THAT MONSTER WEIRDO!" Blair yelled, thrashing mini monster after mini monster in the training room.

It was as if she'd known they were super human all along. She kicked, punched and attacked with force and skill. Shooting orbs of energy from her hands came effortlessly, as did using her eye beams and eye lasers.

Eugene looked down at the dial to the training room incredulously. It was at Danger Level 14, and she was showing no signs of wearing out soon. Powerful and relentless she may have been, but Blair was also stubborn and brash, not listening and sometimes not doing things with much finesse.

Benjamin reached over and took the mic. "Blair, I think that's enough for now. Brandon want's a turn."

"Uh uh, no way, I could do this forever! What else can we do?!"

"Blair, Benjamin is right. You must take turns in the training room, you all need to be at optimum –"

"Blair! Get out!" Beatrix screamed into the mic after wrenching it from her Great Uncle's hands.

"Fine fine fine, jeez!" Blair muttered as the ruins of the fake town she'd been in seconds before faded around her. She jumped out of the simulator and back into the laboratory with enthusiasm, a huge grin spread across her face.

"That was awesome! I can't wait to get in there again!"

"Yes Blair, you'll get your turn again soon enough." Eugene said, gesturing for Brandon to step inside, turning the Danger Level to a 6 to begin with.

"My goodness, you really are your mother and your father's daughter. A scary combination!" Sandra said, smiling at Blair who was bouncing from foot to foot like an animal about to pounce. "Benjamin, could I have a word?"

Benjamin looked up, seeing Sandra's face looking serious. He was disappointed to not see Brandon giving it his all, but followed her outside.

"I wanted to give you this." Sandra said, handing him a battered old red cap.

"It was your –"

"Dad's. I remember it. How did you get this?" Benjamin asked, holding it like it was a handful of diamonds.

"It was found at the scene. I thought you should have it. He would have wanted you to have it."

Benjamin's eyes were still scanning it in awe. He placed it on his head, noticing the perfect fit, and Sandra let out a small gasp.

"Oh my. You are the definitely absolute spit of your father now." She said softly, stroking his chin in a motherly way. "The absolute spit. He would be so proud of you."

Benjamin felt himself swell as he smiled a slanted smile. He would make his father proud. He would fight for all of them.


When Sandra and Benjamin returned, Benjamin with the hat atop his head, Brandon was walking out of the training simulator with a blush spread across his cheeks.

"What's up Brandon?" Benjamin said, to which Brandon mumbled a muffled reply and sank into a chair.

"It's okay Brandy, you'll get better I'm sure, it's very... Different for us." Beatrix said, hovering by his side.

"Don't call me Brandy!" He hissed, his cheeks deepening in colour.

She huffed in reply, then looked round at Eugene who had just called her name.

Eugene toyed with the Danger Level control, turning it up and down, pondering what setting to give to the youngest of the four children. He'd turned it down from a 9 to 7 for Brandon as it was getting a bit much for him. It wasn't that he couldn't fight; it was just that it wasn't in his nature to want to. You could tell from watching him move against the monsters attacking him, it wasn't in his nature to become aggressive and violent when threatened. Eugene wasn't worried about it though. Both Bubbles and Boomer had been the definite peacekeepers of the group, but that didn't mean they weren't people to mess with; he imagined young Brandon would be exactly the same. He just didn't realise it yet. It must have been daunting to find all of this out in one day then be thrown into a dangerous situation and be expected to get out of it using powers you never knew you had. He hadn't expected a reaction like Blair from any of them. Sandra, however, was not surprised at Blair's brutish strength, she'd spent a lot more time with her parents then Eugene had.

But Eugene knew Bubbles and Boomer were extremely competent fighters, their compassion and fierce love and protectiveness making them as ferocious as Buttercup and Butch when they wanted to be. Brandon would be fine, he had a little way to go yet. It was Benjamin he was most looking forward to seeing. If he were anything like his parents he'd be clever and analytical, and one to watch.

He left it on 5 for Beatrix and decided to see how she coped. He could always switch it down a few.

"Let's see what you can do. If you panic, or want to stop, just call my name, okay?" He instructed as she stood in the vast white room. She smiled a little anxiously but nodded.

The room dissolved into a bustling city scene. Beatrix looked around, a little perplexed at how she was supposed to train from standing in the middle of a street filled with people and cars.

Suddenly an almighty screech filled the air, she looked up to see a dragon looking creature, bright red in colour with an orange underbelly, demolishing a building with its' hands.

Beatrix jumped into action, zooming straight for the dragon monsters' gut. She punched it, making it double over winded. When it regained its composure it swiped its hands out at her. Beatrix dodged as best she could, but the small amount of fear in her took over and she got walloped head on. It sent her spiraling to the ground, creating a large crater as she landed.

Outside of the training room, the others were watching. Benjamin had stood briskly as Beatrix had been hit, concern etched on his face. "Turn the level down." He instructed, but Eugene just shook his head slowly.

Beatrix sat up in the crater bleary eyed. When she looked down at herself and realised there wasn't a scratch on her, she grinned. She could do this! She just needed to be clever about it.

She flew out of the crater, finding the creature a few yards away. She shot straight for it, flying about its face and confusing it. Everything she was doing, it seemed so natural to her. She couldn't help but think how ridiculous it all was. Two days ago she was a strange nobody child who everyone thought was a bit of a weirdo, now she was one of four key people to help save the planet. And she was flying about, fighting a dragon!

But it all felt so right.

Once the dragon was suitably confused by the cherry pink dot buzzing about its' face, Beatrix landed a kick to its' temple, knocking it straight to the ground with a loud thud.

"Waheyy Trixie! Who'd have thought she had it in her." Blair commented, as she watched from outside. She was so eager, still bobbing on the spot like a deranged animal.

Benjamin had to admit he was impressed. Almost as impressed as he was with his lunatic cousin Blair.

Beatrix was ever so pleased with herself. She had knocked the thing out without injuring herself. She thought it would have taken longer then that. Thinking the town scene would dissolve around her and she was done, she flew to the ground not far from the beast and turned, waiting.

But Eugene had scrolled the dial up to Danger Level 8. The beast reared it's head, and blew a burst of flame right at Beatrix.

Brandon stood now too, all thinking she was a goner. Benjamin's fists tightened angrily and he glared at Eugene.

"What are you –"

"Look." Eugene answered calmly.

Beatrix was fine. A little sooty and charred, but fine. She turned to the beast, who was slowly getting up again.

She shot laser beams at him, seizing its' arm and surprising herself when she managed to lift him as if he were a large stone.

She swung him round in the air three times, the whole time the dragon fruitlessly spitting fire from it's mouth, then released it, watching it sail off into the distance.

Once again Beatrix landed, looking about, waiting to see her relatives all looking in. But it didn't happen.

"Am I not done?" She asked.

Eugene spoke into the mic. "Not yet. But nearly."

Beatrix took this as he was coming back. She turned around to be met by a face full of fire.

She shot back into a building, shocking herself when it crumbled around her. She dived away from the rubble, thinking about the mess all this was making of the fake town.

Then she realized she was just darting from place to place, trying to miss the beams of fire. She needed to do something to stop it. Unbeknownst to her, Eugene had cranked the dial up to 10.

When a blast of fire hit her arm, it hurt this time. She scrunched her face up in pain. Trying not to wince, but it didn't matter; Benjamin had noticed it.

"Why are you pushing her so hard? She's beaten the thing twice and you've brought it back! Just end it now, she's done." He commanded, getting angry.

"Beatrix is doing fine." He said evenly.

"You didn't push Brandon when he'd had enough!"

"Brandon asked me to stop. Beatrix hasn't. And she will if she wants to. I told you, age is no matter when you're super powered. The only thing that comes with being a little older is being a little stronger. Beatrix and Brandon are not weak because they are younger." Eugene replied matter of fact-ly, watching Beatrix wildly jump around trying to dodge the painful torrents of fire.

Her mind was going overtime trying to think of something. If only I could just blow the fire out!

As this primitive thought came across her mind, she got a cold, frosty feeling in her throat. It surprised her so much the dragon creature almost hit her full on.

Blair winced. "I thought she'd had it then. You can't get seriously hurt in these things anyway can you?"

Eugene didn't answer, which angered Benjamin to no end. He effortlessly grabbed the mic from his hand. "Beatrix. That is enough. Come out now."

Beatrix aimed a kick at the creatures' head, dizzying it for a few seconds. "Benji, I'm kind of busy right now!"

"Trix, get out of there!"

"No!" She yelled, as the dragon cornered her down an alleyway.

"It won't hurt her will it?" Brandon mumbled, things looking dire all of a sudden.

"Eugene, turn the thing off!" Benjamin yelled indignantly.

"Just give her a second. I need to see something." Eugene answered in an irritable voice. Teenagers.

"To see what? Her get seriously injured?!"

All that was on Beatrix's mind as she shot her eye beams at the monster, delaying it into turning her into a puffruff crisp, was to blow out the flames. And every time her mind said this, she got a cold, icy feeling in her throat. Just try it! Her brain told her. So she took a deep breath, and blew.

A stream of beautiful ice cascaded from her mouth and hit the dragons face. She paused to take another deep breath, and blew again. When she opened her eyes. The entire dragons head was frozen solid. Beatrix was delighted. She'd frozen him with ice breath?! She flew up and froze the entire beast. Then gave it a swift kick, sending it soaring out of town, a large shatter filling the air when it landed far away.

The town started to dissolve then, Beatrix stood in the middle of the blank room, grinning from ear to ear.

Eugene turned to Benjamin, a smug look on his face. "Your mother has ice breath. And so does Beatrix apparently."

Benjamin glared at him, not liking being proven wrong. But then looked round at Beatrix, smiling broadly still, and his frown disappeared.

"I have ICE BREATH?!" she cried.

"So does your mother." Eugene confirmed.

"Do we have ice breath?" Blair asked excitedly.

"I highly doubt it. Only Blossom did. It was a unique power of hers. We will discuss unique powers shortly. For now, would you like to step inside, Benjamin?"


Eugene was finally smiling now. Just as he had hoped, Benjamin had been astounding in the training booth. You'd have thought he'd been using his powers for years. He worked with such precision and skill. Eugene was smiling, he was very happy. The plan, it was in the bag. There was no way they'd fail with Benjamin leading them.

Ramiro would be shaking in his boots. Benjamin was the spit of his father, with a strikingly similar fighting style. Intelligent and organized like his mother, he didn't do things messily. He just got them done.

Which is exactly what they needed. But they also needed patience. Eugene Utonium was leading the four of them to a different room; this time to do some research.

Blair and Brandon had pulled disappointed, wary faces at this word. Research. That sounded suspiciously like it would resemble school.

Beatrix was enthused; she liked learning and expanding her knowledge. She'd read every book she could get her mitts on in each orphanage they'd been in over the years. Benjamin however, was confused. Not at the aspect of doing some research, but at Sandra's swift exit when it was mentioned.

She seemed in disarray as she had left, her brow furrowed with worry. Benjamin wondered why as he followed the others, noticing inadvertently that he was floating along.

Using his powers was great; he had to admit. It had come so naturally, like breathing. It was almost as if he'd been suffocating for years, holding them in.

He shivered at the thought of them being taken away. How must his parents be coping? At least they had each other. He hoped they had each other anyway. That Aoife woman had said that his mother was with his uncles and his father with his aunts. He hoped his uncles looked after his mother and his father looked after his aunts.

They stopped when Eugene guided them into a room containing a table and chairs, and a few projectors. There were 3 projector screens on the walls.

Eugene told them to take a seat, and then began to rummage in a cupboard in the corner. He brought out a pile of notebooks and pens, placing one in front of each of them.

"Right, we are going to be researching your powers –" He began, pulling a tedious face when Brandon immediately interrupted him.

"Is it going to involve a lot of writing? Only, I'm not a massive fan of writing." He whined.

"It might do Brandon. Why don't you let me finish, then we can find out?" Eugene answered flatly as he took a seat.

He fiddled with the projectors, turning the one in the middle on. "We shall be watching some old clips and photo's of your parents fighting. Focusing on distinctive powers, abilities and team manoeuvres, so we can take it back to the training room and try it out for ourselves."

There was a disturbed silence, all four puffruff's feeling a mixture of curiosity and fear at the prospect of seeing their parents in action. For Brandon and Beatrix especially, neither had any memory of their parents, only what Blair and Benjamin had told them.

Already the foursome had learnt that their Great Uncle Eugene was a reserved and stony man, coming across as very emotionless. Benjamin pondered if it was the loss of his brother that provoked this, or whether he had always been like it. He continued, barely noticing their afflicted faces. "This room, known as the Archives room, is filled with everything and anything to do with your parents, from press releases, news clippings, family photos, news bulletins and clips used for their own training purposes. We will spend a lot of time in here while we perfect your strengths and weaknesses. I think it's a good place to start, ie by looking at your parents strengths and weaknesses."

He returned to a cupboard, taking out a few rolls of film, and a big box. Then he placed a photo on the projector, the light shining and illuminating the room.

"This is the last photo we have of your parents altogether. It was taken in 2019, not long before your Grandfather died. They were 26."

Benjamin, Blair, Beatrix and Brandon looked at the projector, their mouths hanging open, eyes wide with emotion. Eugene took a step back, allowing them to have a moment looking at the photo on the screen.

It was all six of them in the photo. Boomer and Bubbles were first, in the left side. Boomer held Bubbles in a bridal carry, holding her close. She had shoulder length blonde hair and eyes the colour of the sky, and was skinny but shapely. Boomer, who held her, had blonde hair too, coming just below his ears and scruffing at the ends. He was tall, as were his brothers. His cerulean eyes were looking down at Bubbles, filled with adoration and love. Bubbles was looking at the camera gleefully.

Blossom and Brick were next, in the middle. Blossom was stood next to Brick; he was holding her hand. She had long bright orange hair tied in a thick plait, and was curvy and slender. She had rosy pink eyes that were warm to look at. Brick was tall and stocky, his red hair meeting just below his chin, red cap placed on his head. His eyes were crimson, the exact shade of Benjamin's.

Butch and Buttercup were on the right. Both raven haired, Buttercups eyes a jade green, Butch's a forest. Butch had his arm slung lazily round Buttercups shoulder, and was smirking at her. He'd obviously said something to annoy her as she was looking at him with an eyebrow raised, but was smirking back. Both sported athletic builds, Butch tall too, the girls standing almost a whole foot beneath them all.

"So, that's Mom and Dad?" Beatrix asked, her voice quivering.

Benjamin couldn't speak. They looked exactly like he remembered them. All of them. He cast a look at Blair, and could tell she was thinking the same, her mouth in a straight rigid line. He nodded gently.

"Mom's so, gorgeous. And Dad, he's so handsome! And Uncle Butch and Boomer, Aunty Bubbles and Buttercup. They're…amazing. They look so happy." Beatrix mumbled, all four's eyes still glued to the photo.

"We could occasionally steal a few moments happiness during these times. This one was caught on camera." Eugene said from the corner. He leaned forward, removing it from the projector and handing it to Benjamin. He looked at it intently, then passed it to Beatrix, who done the same.

Photo's began to get passed around the four of them then. Photo's of Brick, Blossom, a five year old Benjamin and a 1 year old Beatrix. Photo's of a newborn Beatrix and a 4 year old Benjamin with their proud Mom and Dad. Photo's of Boomer with a 2 year old Brandon on his shoulders. Photo's of Butch dangling Blair upside down by her leg, her Mom visibly screeching at him in the background.

Eugene abandoned his plans to show them their parents in action, allowing them to reminisce and stare at their parents who they hardly remembered, who up until recently they had believed to be dead.

Instead, he pointed out people they may recognize from meeting at Alliance X, and explained side stories to certain pictures he remembered. Beatrix shed a few tears, unable to hold in the injustice of it all. Brandon rubbed his eyes with his knuckles, wishing he could appear as hard faced as Benjamin as he sat and stared at a photo of his mother, cradling him so close, looking down at him, beyond in love.

But even Benjamin and Blair had knots in their throats', both were just better at swallowing them.

Benjamin looked down at a photo of Sandra holding a newborn version of himself, looking over the moon, the lab coat in the background stood close by. He could only presume the white coat standing closer to her belonged to and was being worn by her husband, and his grandfather, Professor Utonium. He now understood why she had not came into the Archives room with them. It was a very painful room to be in.


Blair couldn't sleep. She sat on her bunk bed, knees tucked under her chin, and thought deeply, tears rolling down her cheeks.

It wasn't fair. It just wasn't fair. Her parents had loved her. They had loved her so deeply, she could see it in the photo's, on their faces. And all this time she had believed them to be dead. To have died defending this city, defending her future. Died for nothing, she'd always thought, nothing had changed. Ramiro was still in power, people still needed someone to fight for them.

But she guessed that was where they came in. Her and her cousins were the only ones who could fight for them.

She delved into her pyjama bottom pocket, digging deep and pulling out a photo of her and her parents she had swiped. She straightened it out and wiped her eyes with her knuckles.

Butch was stood beside Buttercup, who appeared to be sat in a chair, holding onto a newborn looking version of Blair. He was grinning up at the camera, his eyes seeming to say 'Look at this little dime!' Her mother was one tough woman, so she'd been told and so she remembered vaguely, but in this photo, her eyes were all soft and warm, because she was looking down at her daughter. She was looking down at Blair.

And Blair just couldn't take the injustice of it all.

The door to their bedroom creaked open then, making Blair jump.

"Oh, hello dear, I thought you'd be sleeping by now, it's late, and you've all had such a long day." Sandra said, closing the door quietly behind her. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine." Blair sniffed.

"I suppose the Archives room was tough, hmm?" She said softly.

Blair sniffed again, wiping hurriedly at her eyes and passing Sandra the photo without looking at her.

Sandra, surprised by her handing her a picture, looked down at it, a heavy feeling in her stomach when she realized what it was of.

"I nicked it from that room. I guess you should put it back, or something." Blair mumbled.

Sandra looked up at her, she could see a tell tale tear glistening on her cheek. "No, I think you should keep it. It's a lovely photo."

Blair blinked, taken aback, as she accepted the photo back from Sandra. "Thanks." She muttered.

"It's okay. Now, try and get some sleep, you'll be training again tomorrow so you need your strength." Sandra said, smiling, and turning to leave.

"It's not fair!" Blair growled quietly.

Sandra paused. "I know honey, it's far from it. But you will get your parents back; I just know it. I have so much hope. When you lose almost everything, it's all you really can have."


r&r :)