Disclaimer: The X-Men aren't mine, they're Marvel's. See my profile for OC credit.
Author's note: I'm baaaaaaack!
Little bit of a leave of absence, sorry readers. I participated in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) in November (completing a little over 5 chapters for my original story, Recruits), took a break in December (more like was forced, "dead week" truly means DEAD), and then started editing again in January. I think I was moving a little too fast for Beta (plus he's a full-time student and works a ton), so here in February I gave up waiting for him and sucked it up and edited my edit myself (so I'll apologize in advance for anything that's wonky).
I hope everyone is doing well in this new year, and I'll get Chapter 22: The Skater up once I've finished Chapter 23 (I'm gonna try to stay ahead of myself so I have a regular update schedule like I sorta had way back when in the beginning).
Anyways, I'm happy to be back. I've sorted some timeline factors out so we should be good to go! We're entering into a three-part Benj/Haven centered arc.
Enjoy. Read. Review
Limitations
Amara paced back and forth beside the X-Van in the parking lot of Bayville High. It had been nearly an hour since the incident after school and the Xavier mutants had not returned from the school building yet. Xavier dismissed Amara quickly after arriving, intending for her to stay and wait by the van, but Logan had gone a step further and called Scott to pick her up.
"Will you stop? You're freaking me out."
Amara rounded on the speaker, Scott, narrowing her eyes. The older mutant had arrived at the school quickly after Logan's call, but failed at all his attempts to get Amara to get in his car and return to the Institute.
She was just too worried about Tabitha… and Leo… to calmly sit by and wait.
The girl jabbed her pointer finger at him, but said nothing. Scott's eyebrows went up in surprise, and he held his hands up in surrender. Amara took a deep breath and lowered her hand, Scott following suit. She knew she was acting too weirdly to simply be left alone, her anxiety hijacking her responses. Scott was worried too, but he was keeping it under control.
"What's up Amara?" He asked. He wasn't the best at the whole "connection" thing, it was more Jean's style to talk down-to-earth with the younger mutants, but he seemed to be trying. Amara suppressed the desire to roll her eyes immediately after his question, but his question still sparked anger within her.
She narrowed her eyes. "What's up? What's up?" She said, her voice rising.
I've made a terrible mistake. Scott's expression seemed to say.
Amara ignored it.
"What's wrong is Leo had his head bashed in, and Tabitha used her powers to protect him! Leo probably needs to go to the hospital, and Tabitha is going to be expelled! There's hardly any schools she can attend in Bayville. And that is if her mother doesn't take her back home!"
"Woah, woah, calm down." Scott urged, cautiously placing his hands on her shoulders, awkwardly keeping her at arms-length. "You don't know that. Leo heals fast, he'll be okay. And Tabitha won't-"
Amara knocked his arms away and took a step back. "No, no! You don't know! Tabitha has always been on thin ice here. Her mother was furious with Xavier for letting Tabitha run and return without notifying her quickly."
Scott tried to come up with a reassuring statement, but instead he could only stutter dumbly. "I didn't know that."
"No duh." Amara said crossly, leaning back on the van. Her anger subsided, and she took a deep breath, sighing. "Sorry Scott, I don't know what came over me."
"I do." He said quietly. She squirmed and cast a glance out of the corner of her eye at him. "You're worried about your friends. It's fine."
"Right, yeah." Amara crossed her arms and gazed at the school. Was that all? She'd been struggling with how to interpret her relationship with Leo and Tabitha, if either meant more than a friendship or if she was just imagining things.
"Is there anything else I should know, Amara?" Scott asked, walking closer.
That was Scott, always the interrogator.
She shook her head, pushing her confused thoughts to the back of her mind. "No. Sorry, I'm just-" She paused, her eyes set on the doors of the school. They opened and a trio hobbled out.
Scott traced her gaze, and the two watched Tabitha, Logan, and Leo make their way across the parking lot. Leo leaned between the two, relying heavily on Logan, looking worse-for-wear.
"Oh god…" Scott ran a hand through his hair and sighed. Amara put a hand over her mouth, a small gasp escaping her lungs. "He really got pounded." Scott commented as the three got closer.
"Hey, I s-s-still loo-look better than you." Leo stuttered out, grinning, as the trio approached. Tabitha let go of Leo as Logan unlocked the van and started lifting Leo into the vehicle. Amara squeezed Leo's arm after he was settled into the car, and he smiled back. Spinning around, Amara rushed over to Tabitha and gave the girl a hug.
"Don't do that again." Amara whispered. "You scared me."
Tabitha was tense at first, but then she relaxed and hugged the girl back. "Sorry."
The two pulled apart, though Amara kept an arm around Tabitha's shoulder, and Tabitha put one of hers around Amara's waist.
Logan glared at Amara. "Thought I told you to go with Scott, kid."
"She wouldn't come with." Scott answered for Amara, glancing that the girl.
"So what happened?" Amara asked, looking over at Tabitha.
Tabitha flinched at the question. "I… uh… Suspension is all, babe." Starting out of character, she quickly recovered herself and slipped back into her typical lit. Amara raised an eyebrow at her, surprised by her friend's own weirdness.
Tabitha smiled apologetically and took a step to the side, dropping her arm and forcing Amara to drop hers as well. Amara felt herself suddenly tense, and crossed her arms, looking down at her shoes.
"Take the girls home. We'll wait here for the professor." Logan commanded.
Amara looked up to see Scott giving her a puzzled look, but Logan turned around and the look vanished. The man crossed his arms. "No arguing this time Amara. Go home, get your homework started or something."
"Okay, Logan." Scott glanced at the two girls. "Come on," he said, walking toward his car, "let's go."
Rec Room
Benj and Rogue sat on the couch, Benj's arm around her, and Rogue's head pillowed in the sweatshirt on his chest. The only light came from the television in front of them; the movie, however, was mostly ignored.
Rogue looked up at Benj. His eyelids were drifting close on his turquoise eyes, his breathing growing heavy. Smiling, Rogue sat up a little bit and brushed her gloved thumb over his jaw. A faint purple bruise swelled there. Benj sighed and closed his eyes at her touch.
Without giving her actions much thought, she leaned forward and kissed the bruise on his jaw, nothing more than a quick touch with her lips. The boy shuddered. For a moment, Rogue's heart plummeted. Well that was a stupid move.
Then he opened his eyes and smiled.
A laugh escaped Rogue as Benj continued to smile warmly, placing his hand behind her ear, his fingers wrapping around the back of her neck. Rogue felt her heart swell. She leaned into his gloved hand and smiled into the leather.
"Didn't think that would work, huh?" Benj asked softly, whispering the words into her ears. The heat from his breath sent shivers down her neck.
"Not really." Rogue muttered, facing him. She put a hand on his cheek. "Ah am sorry about that bruise… again."
Benj chuckled and ran his thumb over the edge of her ear. "You just like kicking my ass."
"Ah can't touch ya much any other way."
Benj's smile faded. "Rogue, I'm not…" He sighed, lowering his hand and taking her hands in his. "I'm not bothered by it. I can wait until we can figure something out."
Rogue clenched her teeth and glared down at their hands, both pairs covered in gloves. "Ah don't want ta wait. It's not fair to eithah of us!" She growled.
Benj sighed and squeezed her hands. Rogue laid her head on his shoulder.
The same old doubt crept into her heart. Their relationship had hardly begun and she was already heart-broken that it was going to be over. She didn't doubt anymore that Benj would wait… but for how long? Forever? Not to mention she had her own desires. She didn't want to be without human contact for her entire life.
She could be celibate, fine, if she had to. But she couldn't suppress everything. There had to be a way.
"Rogue."
She bit her lip and didn't respond.
"Rogue… darling…" Benj pleaded.
She shook her head. He placed a hand under her chin, putting gentle pressure on her jaw to force her to look at him. His face was solemn, his eyes scanning her face.
"Rogue, I want to…" he leaned in close, she could feel the heat from his skin. "…try something." He murmured, pressing his lips against hers.
Rogue's eyes went wide. Trickles of memory from Benj leaked into her mind. She placed her hands on his chest and shoved him back.
"Benj!"
The boy shuddered again, choking and sputtering, his arms curled around his body. He was flat on his back on the floor.
Rogue put her fingers to her lips, her flesh still recalling his lips. She rolled her eyes as Benj finally laid still.
"Damn it, Benj." She grumbled, getting up and kneeling next to him. "Why the hell are ya such an idiot?"
Benj opened one eye, a smile spreading across his face. "You only call me an idiot when you think I'm exceptionally cute, did you know that?"
Rogue narrowed her eyes. "If ya weren't already on the ground, Ah'd put ya there now." She growled, jabbing his chest with her finger.
He laughed, propping himself up. "You really like beating me up, huh?"
She glared at him, offering her hand. "No. Ah don't." Pulling him up, she wrapped her arms around his neck. He smiled and put his arms around her waist. "Ah just want ya ta be careful." He opened his mouth, and Rogue quickly interjected. "Benj, Ah am capable of killin' people. Ah put Cody in a coma!"
"I have no idea who that is, but Rogue, I honestly don't care. We're all dangerous. All of us X-Men." Benj argued.
"Cody was the boy Ah danced with the night the X-Men found me… All he did was touch my arm, and he ended up in the hospital!" She stepped back, braking their hold on each other. "And no one else in the X-Men can kill somebody just by touchin' 'em."
"Rogue, Rogue…" Benj closed the gap between them and put his hands on her shoulders. She looked down. "I'm sorry. I should not have done that." He paused. "But I'm willing to try… you know that. Rogue, come one, you have to look at me. I'm not going to read your mind here."
She complied.
He bent down so he was eye level with her. "I promise not to do anything you don't want me to. If I want to try kissing you, I will let you know. I wouldn't do it without your permission… I will make sure you're ready."
Rogue nodded, not really having anything to say… not really wanting to say anything.
"I think I can put up mental blocks that can give us a little leeway." Benj said quietly.
Rogue took his hand and pressed her lips against the leather. He pulled her closer and hugged her.
"Can we finish the movie now?" Rogue asked, a smile inching across her face.
Benj grinned. "I totally forgot about that."
"Cleahrly." Rogue teased, pulling him back to the couch. "Now don't fall asleep, Ah love this movie." She said as he sat down and she curled up beside him.
"No promises." Benj said, putting his arm around her. He yawned and received an elbow to the ribs. He grunted and leaned to the side, falling sideways onto the couch. Sticking his arm up in the air, Benj looked back at Rogue. "Well if I'm going to fall asleep, I may as well be comfortable."
"Dork." Rogue muttered, snuggling into him. His arm fell around her. She smiled, feeling safe.
She didn't know exactly when she'd fallen asleep, but she woke up to see the set-up menu playing on the television. The lights were flipped on. Benj groaned behind her, mumbling incoherently about lights.
A familiar voice called out from the back of the room, clearly in the doorway. "Anybody in here? I just want to play some Call of-"
The couple yelled at the younger X-Man in unison. "GO AWAY BOBBY!"
"And turn out the lights!"
The lights went out quickly, followed by the sound of retreating footsteps.
"Think he thought we were, you know?" Benj muttered, lifting his arm up like he expected Rogue to get up.
She tugged his arm back over her and closed her eyes. "Nah, Bobby ain't that dumb."
"Good, good Benj. You are improving."
Benj and Storm stood in the center of the Danger Room, which was enveloped in a dense fog. Every time he saw her, he was convinced that her swift recovery was nothing short of miraculous; the poison had broken down in her system around twenty-five hours after her attack. It was only a two weeks later, and Storm was perfectly back on her feet.
As one of his mentors, Storm was in charge of a one-on-one session with Benj, "Mutation Exploration" as the professor liked to call it. The two experimented with his environmental abilities as she had the most similar powers to his.
"Now try to get rid of it." Storm suggested.
Benj wiped some condensation from his goggles and took a deep breath. Extending his arm outward, he reached out with his mind.
In the short amount of time he'd been at the Institute, Benj had begun to discover exactly how his powers worked. At first, Storm had suggested they might be emotion driven, like hers, but soon that proved to be false. They worked when he could "grasp" the air around him and bend it to his will. He found it difficult to explain it to other people, but he understood them now. The air became an extension of his body when he focused his powers.
Currently, Benj was focusing on bringing the temperature in the room up a bit to dispense of the fog. It was no easy task. He had only started to tamper with temperature control.
Storm watched calmly as he closed his extended hands into fists. She herself could feel the atmospheric change in the room. He appeared to be conquering his initial limitations with ease.
Benj lowered his arms to his sides slowly. Even with his eyes closed, he knew the fog was gone.
With evident pleasure, he examined the Danger Room and saw that indeed, the fog had receded.
"Alright!" He cheered. "What next Storm?"
Storm chuckled at his enthusiasm. "Let's try something more difficult." She walked over and pressed a panel on the wall. "Try to knock the target over with a wind gust, without using yourself as a starting point."
Benj blinked at her for a second, confused by her words.
"Do not channel the air through you." Storm clarified, a smile on her face. "You are quite good at that."
The teen shuffled his feet, brushed some blonde hair from his face, and readjusted his yellow accented gloves. Already, he knew he wouldn't be able to do it. That wasn't how his powers worked.
He faked a smile. "Okay, I'm ready!"
Storm tapped the panel again, and off to the left above her a platform slid out with a four-foot-tall block atop it.
"How much does it weigh?" Benj asked as he analyzed it.
"What does it matter? The only thing you need to know is that it can fall if pushed hard enough." Storm replied, the taunting undertone mocking him, even though she spoke with a smile.
He grumbled nonsense under his breath as he took a combat stance. He moved his arms to the left side of his torso and took a deep breath. He tried to "grasp" some air to the side of the block and drag it across with the force needed.
The whoosh of the air was audible but the block didn't move.
Disheartened, Benj attempted his task again. And again… and again…
His powers just wouldn't stretch like that. Any sort of wind gust had to be channeled through or right around him.
Frustrated, Benj whipped his arm down across his body sending a slash of air flying at the block. When it struck, the block was sent flying into the wall behind it.
"Not quite what I-"
"Sorry, I'm limited." Benj spat bitingly.
"Sorry, I'm limited. What the hell do you want me to do Marsha?" A man's voice sliced through Benj's thoughts.
"Gah!" Benj gasped suddenly, clutching his head and falling to his knees. What is that who…
"Please, Rick. Not around him." This time it was a woman's… his mother's voice.
"Him? Did you see what he did? I need some answers here!"
"Benj! Benj! What is wrong?" Storm cried out, rushing to his side. To the teen, her voice sounded foggy… she felt a thousand miles away.
"No…" Benj whispered, his eyes going wide. He knew what happened next. He was reliving the death of his parents.
"It's not normal. No boy should have that kind of power!" His dad shouted from inside Benj's skull.
Suddenly, he found himself sitting in the back seat of the Dents' family silver two-row car. His father was driving, his mother next to her… they were arguing fiercely.
"Stop it Rick! We'll talk about this at home!" His dad whipped his head to the side in order to scream at his wife. A truck flashed in front of their car. "Pay attention to the road!" His mom screamed.
"Dad look out!" Benj's voice passed his throat as a young boy's, echoing in his head followed closely by screeching wheels and the sound of groaning metal and breaking glass.
"I loved you son… don't ever think I didn't…"
"Dad." Benj groaned, his body exhausted. He fell onto his side.
"Benj!" Storm yelled again. Gently, she placed a hand on his shoulder, tugging him back to reality. He twitched when his mind landed, very aware he was on the ground covered in sweat. His breathing was labored and his body began to shake, chills running through his muscles. "What happened?" The woman asked as she helped him sit up.
He took in a shaky breath, fighting off his tremors. Tearing off his goggles, he flung them across the room. "I don't really know… nothing like that's ever happened before. It's like my mind went back inside a memory."
"Do you want to talk with the professor?"
"Yeah, that would help." Benj sighed, wrapping his arms around his chest.
"I will retrieve him now." Storm stated, starting to walk away.
Benj managed to stand up and stop her with a hand on her arm. "Wait! Storm, could… could I ask you something?" He asked quickly.
She caught him as he swayed. "Of course."
"Have… have you ever lost someone that was close to you?" He asked, sitting back down on the floor.
Storm frowned slightly, seeing that Benj's eyes had gotten misty. She sat next to him. "In a way… my nephew, Evan."
"How did you deal with it? I mean, I thought I had this figured out, but it just never goes away."
"It isn't something that just goes away, Benj. I believe everyone deals with these things a different way. Sometimes having good friends by your side is the best way to move through it." She paused. "Who was it? Your godparents?"
Benj fiddled with the buckle on his boots. "No, it was my birthparents. I don't really know why, but somehow the memory of their death took over my consciousness. Problem is… I've never remembered it like that before." He turned his head up. "I've always had this limited memory of it, the psychologist said I was suppressing it, but I… I just don't know." His voice cracked a little and he crossed his arms on his knees and placed his head on his forearms.
Storm inched closer and put an arm around him. "How old were you when they died?"
The boy shook. "Seven…" He whispered, leaning into her hug.
"Only seven? Oh you poor child."
They sat there for quite some time, student and teacher, sharing their limitations.
The late afternoon sun peeked out from behind the leaves of the tree on the back of the grounds of the Xavier institute. Underneath it sat two teens, Rogue and Benj, each reading their own books. Benj's head was in Rogue's lap, and she leaned against the trunk of the tree.
After a while, Rogue set her book aside and looked down at Benj.
"Alright, what's goin' on." She said. "Ya've been on that page for neahrly twenty minutes."
The boy turned his turquoise eyes up to look at her face.
"Are ya mad at me or somethin' too?" Rogue asked.
"No! Of course not!" Benj said. "Wait, too? Who else is mad at you?"
"Claire Darth, at least… Ah think so… she ain't talkin' ta me for some reason." Rogue trailed off. "Now, what is goin' on?"
He started to open his mouth.
"Now don't ya lie ta me Benjamin Dents."
He sighed. "I had some sorta 'mental pulse' during my session with Storm. Professor X says it's completely normal for psychics and telepaths. I… I had a flashback to my parents' car crash." He waited for Rogue to say something. When she didn't, he continued. "Thing is that I never remembered the conversation before… it's like someone deleted that part from my memory."
"What did they say?"
"My dad was talkin' bout my powers, and my mom sounded like she knew something, but was just tryin' to calm him down." Benj sat up and leaned against the tree. "Could it have been possible one of my parents was a mutant? Did I miss out on something?"
"Ya'll nevah know. Don't focus on what coulda been, focus on the now. Othahwise ya'll always be limited by yahr mind." Rogue said, brushing his hair from his face.
Benj closed his eyes, soaking in the sun. "Haven't you ever wondered 'what if'?"
"All the time."
Benj looked over at her.
"Really, think about it. Ah shoulda been with the X-Men to begin with, Mystique tricked me inta doin' everything Ah nevah wanted. Then there's the 'what if Ah nevah joined the X-Men'. Ah think everyone of the team's thought that, but everything happens for a reason."
He sighed. Everything just had to have a reason. "Well, I for one am glad you did join the X-Men." He grabbed her hand. "Even if it gets me gutted by Wolverine eventually." He kissed her glove.
"Awww, yahr entrails will make beautiful decorations." Rogue laughed.
Benj took out his phone and opened a stop-watch app. "Want to see how long we can go this time?" He asked with a charming, but devious, smile.
"Ya're neahrly as insane as yahr brothah. Ya are willin' to try ta pass out?" Rogue teased, wrapping a hand behind his neck.
"Eh, it's plenty fun for a while." He pressed the start button and cupped Rogue's head in his hand. "Stop it when I pass out."
He brought his lips to hers, receiving a bit of a thrill. The empath could sense the same feelings projecting from Rogue as they kissed under the tree.
He put his other hand behind her neck and drew her in closer, savoring the moments as they inched by. Rogue twisted his long blonde hair in her fingers, enjoying the feeling of skin-to-skin.
Sadly, both could also feel her powers taking effect. Rogue could feel the air moving around her as an extension of her physical movements. Benj, on the other hand, felt his energy quickly being sapped out of him. He unwillingly let out a groan and his eyes started to roll to the back of his head.
Rogue felt him pull away and she let him fall onto his back. She smiled when she saw him with a small grin on his face.
"Moron." She whispered, stopping the stop-watch. Fifteen seconds… he'd probably need medical attention this time.
The Haven
Clay grabbed cash off her desk, miscellaneous bills she'd been saving up, totaling up to nearly sixty dollars. She organized the ruffled bills into ascending order before stuffing the wad of cash into her pocket.
Unlike the others' rooms in the Haven, Clay's room didn't appear to be well lived in. The room had no bed, instead there was just a mat and pillow on the floor. Most of her squad members' rooms had some sort of personalization, like a poster or such, but the closest thing she had was an armor rack and a holster for her sword.
As she left the room, she turned back, tempted to grab her sword and take it with her. Obviously, she did not grab it. She would draw too much attention to herself.
Zendi was walking down the hall as Clay exited her room. Zendi paused, seeing that Clay was looking back inside her room.
"You don't need to take it everywhere, you know?" Zendi said to her friend.
Clay let out a low whine and turned to face Zendi. The elf smiled reassuringly. "It takes some getting used to, but I suppose walking 'round with a weapon is considered… unwelcome." She closed the door softly behind her and took a deep breath.
"The knife too." Zendi prodded.
Her friend sighed and pulled a sheath out of her boot. The handle of the knife was decorated with the same designs as her wrist guards, thin swirling bronze etchings in the black handle. The sheath itself was covered in black leather. "Happy now?"
"Why are you so anxious for an attack all the time?"
"Because it's happened before…" Clay muttered. She extended the knife to Zendi. "Take it Zen, please?"
She compiled. "So headin' out?"
"Yeah, wanna come with? I was gonna buy a new video game for Nico. Since he's here a lot by himself, I don't want him to get too bored and lonely."
"Did Ash ask you to?" Zen asked, dashing inside Clay's room to set down the weapon. The two continued down the short hall to the common's area.
"She suggested which one to get, but it was a kinda mutual plan." Clay answered.
The pair looked around the common's area which was mostly empty except for Cloak, Sionnach, and Portal. Cloak was struggling through a book for English, Sionnach was zoned into the television, and Portal was just walking in from the outward door.
"Hey Portal, mind givin' us a lift to Bayville?" Clay asked.
"Sure thing!" The girl said cheerfully. "Just was about to start my homework anyway." She added glumly.
"Perk up here!" Clay laughed. "It could always be worse."
"Yeah, you could be stuck reading an entire book in English." Cloak grumbled, trying a new position on the couch. Despite his long time in the country, he still had difficulty making it through lengthy passages in English. Which meant it took him longer than most people to read simple reading assignments. After enough time he could get it, but he said it gave him a head ache.
"Sorry Ricky, I wish I could help," Portal apologized, giving him a hug as she stood, "but I have a lot of homework to do."
"I get it." Cloak sighed.
Sionnach turned his head slightly and commented. "I'll help you out, no promise I'll be a ton of help though." He turned to face Clay. "So if you're so proud of being a mutant, why do you use your shape-shifting to change your skin color to something normal?"
Clay narrowed his eyes at him, unable to believe his sudden change in topic.
Before she could answer, Zendi butted in. "She loves being a mutant as much as anybody, but that doesn't mean she likes being blatantly discriminated against."
Sionnach shrugged and turned off the TV. He moved next to Cloak and began asking him questions about the book.
Clay rolled her eyes and turned back to Portal and Zendi. "Portal-master?"
Portal swept her arm up and conjured up a swirling purple portal. "There ya go, one mid-sized gateway to Bayville. Don't know why you want to go there though… I get enough of it during the day."
"Not all of us are big city kids." Clay teased as she and Zendi jumped through the portal.
As usual, they emerged from the jump in a dark alley.
"So got a store in mind?" Zendi asked.
"Yep, follow me."
The two made their way through the already darkening streets to a store Zendi recognized as one they also stole food from on occasion.
"Really?" Zendi laughed.
"Eh, I feel like we should pay them back a little." Clay shrugged. They made their way to the back of the store where the small selection of video games was. It took less than five minutes to find the game and pay for it.
As they made their way toward the exit of the store, they overheard a commotion at the check-out counter.
"Come one, man! I'm just tryin' to pay for some food!" A male teenage voice said.
"I'm sorry, but I have the right to refuse service to anyone, especially to you muties!" The clerk answered back.
The two Haven mutants crept back to watch the scene unfold.
The clerk at the counter was a short bald man with glasses. The customer trying to pay wore only jeans, his upper body was covered in tan plates of armor, ending at his head in a short, spikey helmet. He held a few loaves of bread and a couple of cans in a store basket, the money to pay for it slapped down on the counter.
"I am gonna pay for it." The mutant repeated, his voice a growl, pointing angrily at the money placed in front of him.
Clay let out a quiet, "Ohh" as she suddenly recognized him. Evan Daniels, called Spyke, a former X-Man. She'd done enough research on the team to put names and powers to faces, and there was no mistaking him.
Zendi shot her a questioning glance. "That kid use to be one of the X-Men." Clay whispered to Zendi. "He's a hero, helped stop Apocalypse, and here he is being treated like scum!"
Zendi ground her teeth together. "Yeah, well… what can we do without drawing a lot of attention to ourselves?"
"I got an idea, I'm gonna make him look like the hero he is." She paused, looking at her friend. "How do you feel about getting tossed around?"
Zendi sighed. "Play robbery? Am I the victim or the perp?"
"Victim. Stay here." Clay ordered.
Zendi sighed again, rolling her shoulders and leaning against a shelf. Clay liked to come up with some crazy plans.
Clay snuck out of the store and jogged around the corner to hide in the alley between the store and its neighboring building. She scanned the walls for cameras. Luckily none. With a deep breath, she cycled through some of her custom disguises, deciding to go with the bulkiest one, she'd used it before to pass as a football lineman at a suburban school in Dallas.
Her shoulders widened, her limbs and chest lengthened, her muscles bulged. A faint pain resonated in her mind as her body altered itself. As a finishing touch, she added stumble and a bulky black sweatshirt.
When she was done, she stood a foot taller, with dark blonde hair, blue eyes, slightly tanned skin, and rough stumble. Opposite sex shapes were always weird for Clay. She hated them, but she would put up with pretending to be a man to get what she wanted. With a quick thought, she changed her eyes back to neon green so Zendi would have no doubt it was really her.
Flipping up her hood, she changed the cells in her right hand to create a gun. She'd recreated the mechanisms before, but she wasn't sure if she could do it again. She might be able to fake one bullet, but probably not more.
With a deep breath, she curled her face into a snarl and burst back into the store.
"Everybody get down!" She yelled, her voice deep and gruff. "Anybody moves, I'll shoot!"
Zendi's eyes went wide, but her expression quickly became steely and she stepped in front of Clay the attacker. Clay grabbed Zendi by the shoulder and slung her into the shelf she had been leaning against. The shelf collapsed and Zendi was suddenly buried by the boxes of cereal and snacks that it once held. The girl groaned from under the pile, a little too loudly to be hurt enough to warrant concern.
The eyes of other shoppers went wide, and many started slowly crouching.
"That good 'nough convincing?" Clay shouted, approaching the check-out counter. "Whatcha got in the register?"
The clerk began fumbling to open it. Clay continued toward the counter, casting menacing glances at all the other customers.
Evan stepped in front of her and crossed his arms.
"You got a problem, dude?" He asked, glaring.
"Gonna have a problem with you in a few seconds, mutie." Clay growled back, jabbing her faked gun in Evan's face.
The mutant steeped back and extended spikes from his forearms. "Think twice dude." He shot the flaming-tipped spikes at the opposing attacker, sending Clay flying into the wall closest to the counter. Evan fired a series of spikes after, pinning Clay to the wall.
She let her head fall forward as if she was knocked out, but quickly began strategizing on how to get out.
Customers began mumbling and several took their phones out to snap pictures.
The clerk looked bewildered at Evan and shook his head in amazement.
"Take what you want, honestly."
Evan cracked a little smile, scooping up what he had originally intended on buying. He left the money behind on the counter and walked to the door. Before he steeped through, he turned back and called out to the clerk. "You might wanna call the cops!"
The clerk nodded and turned around to the phone behind the counter. After dialing, he turned back around to where the robber was.
Spikes still pierced the wall, but the robber had vanished.
Xavier Institute
Pale white light pulled Benj from his unconsciousness. As he cracked his eyes open, he was surprised at his surroundings.
He was in the infirmary, again.
Benj groaned slightly at his stupidity. His head was splitting. Xavier sat at the foot of his bed, a stern but concerned expression on his face. Benj sat up, feeling like he'd probably be better off dead right now, anticipating the lecture about to come out of Xavier's mouth.
"Benj… What were you thinking? You must be more careful!" The professor said.
Benj ran a hand through his hair, sighing. "I know, I know… I just hate…" He sighed. "You get it right?"
Xavier regretfully nodded. "That being so… you can't continue with this if your presence in the infirmary is going to be a normal occurrence."
Benj sat up straighter. "Are you stating that I shouldn't be with Rogue because of this? I'll be more careful, more conservative. It was one stupid idea of mine—"
"Yes, and that one stupid idea will lead to another!" The professor's voice rose. He sighed. "Benj, we want what's best for you even if—"
"Even if it doesn't seem like it. Right." Benj finished somewhat angrily. He flopped back over on the bed and shut his eyes, waiting for the professor to go away.
Everything came with its own limitations… and the repercussions of pushing past them.
Fun Fact #57: Limitations used to come after Welcome to the Haven, and just before The Pain of Lockers. Beta pointed out the rushed feeling of Benj and Rogue's interactions in this chapter, and so I decided to move this chapter to later in the timeline. As it turns out, this placement is perfect, as the next chapter builds off the Spyke scene.
Fun Fact #58: Characters who have resisted Rogue's powers include The Blob and Magneto. In the series, these two recovered almost instantaneously (once) from her powers. Kitty was also able to resist succumbing to Rogue's powers in Spyke Cam when they touched fingertips. Benj's temporary resistance in this chapter is due to short skin contact (the very quick kisses exchanged) and mental blocks which slowed the absorption of his life-force, but did not prevent it.
Fun Fact #59: Benj is never seen driving in D-Factor. He doesn't even have a driver's license. His parents' deaths has made it incredibly hard for him to drive (and on occasion ride) in cars. His main mode of transportation is skateboard.
Fun Fact #60: Clay spent several months disguised as a football player in Dallas, Texas, in an attempt to investigate where mutants in the city were disappearing to. The mission was cut short when Clay withdrew, citing "emotional distress". The poor choice of disguise was too much for her to handle, and led to a period of depression. It was during this time Jaller took over the Haven.
Fun Fact #61: At times, D-Factor strays away from the original series, as I had forgotten certain plot points in XME while writing D-Factor the first time through. I won't go back and fix what I've missed so far in this reboot, but might address some of the short-falls in future chapters.
Fun Fact #62: The events in Kitsune through the beginning scene here in Limitations take place over the duration of a week. Let that sink in.
Okay, so I spent some time today figuring out literal timeline factors (days, months, weeks, etc.) and finally figured everything out. As I am properly satisfied, I should be able to crank out the shorter chapters pretty fast in the future (Masked Fate (chapter 24) is actually one really long scene, so with some intense editing it should be ready to go very quickly after His Choice (chapter 23)).
Stay tuned for next time:
Chapter 22: The Skater - Following the store robbery downtown, an investigation ensues... conducted by Spades. Benj and Vince catch Spades in the act, and follow him to the Brotherhood Boarding House where Benj quickly gets in over his head.