Disclaimer: I do not own X-men Evolution. I do own all the characters mentioned in this chapter. :)
"Glenda!" She shouted, afraid of what she'd done.
Ben's eyes burst open suddenly "Wow, that, that was so real!" he shouted, blinking a few times.
Mari was nearly hyperventilating, and leant against the wall for support.
"It was so amazing, I could feel and smell and see everything, until the bloody tiger showed up, and then it wasn't so amazing. Lucky for me you snapped me out of the dream hey"
Mari wasn't laughing and instead she just nodded and managed a weak smile.
"Let's work on your power instead" She suggested.
After concentrating he managed to levitate a few rocks, and then moved onto spinning them around in circles.
Mari relaxed, but knew she would have to work on her gift sooner or later, she had to be able to stop the illusions when she wanted, not just at any time the illusion wanted to stop.
She didn't know what would happen if someone were 'killed' in the illusions and she didn't want to find out.
After a few hours of practice they all sat around in a circle, Will, curled up at Mari's feet, still in his cat form, having discovered that he couldn't morph back.
Ben, reading the cats mind laughed "He says whoops"
"You know what we need," Nichole said with a grin "We need names"
Ben snorted and Sophie looked plain confused "We have names"
"No, I mean, like, Codenames or something. Like in movies"
Mari laughed "You're crazy Nichole"
Ivy for one agreed with the idea "No way, it's an awesome idea, I dibs Poison Ivy"
Glenda laughed "My dear, I believe I should never have let you watch batman"
Ivy poked her tongue out at her mother. Mari giggled "Poison Ivy, I like it"
Ivy grinned and turned to Will "What is it Mari calls you, Will-Kitten?"
The cat made a mew of protest before morphing back, Will found himself on Mari's lap.
"Meow" He said, everyone laughed and Mari blushed crimson.
He moved and sat beside her instead "Ok, so not Will-Kitten, how bout Cat-boy or,"
Sophie spoke up "How about Morph?"
No one found anything wrong with this name, so they moved on.
"What about me?" Sophie questioned, Mari having already thought a name for her grinned "I know, Sprite"
Sophie burst out laughing, but heartily agreed to it.
Glenda was dubbed Willow, Ben given the name Tobias, simply because he liked the name, and Nichole, who'd joined them sometime after midnight was named 'Miracle'
"I don't know isn't it a little, egotistical?" She protested, but no one agreed with her, so sighing she'd given in.
Mari was the last to be named, and it was all too easy, Will smiled when they'd gotten to her and offered "Illusion"
They'd all gone to sleep smiles on their faces.
It took four weeks for Will to morph into a cat and back again successfully, but now that he could, he wasted no time in using it to his advantage. He grew a close bond with Ben and Jacques, Ben's younger brother.
He was wary of morphing around young Jacques though, the boy had a habit of picking the cat up and then creating a force field, leaving Will stuck that way for as long Jacques could keep the force field going.
Mari had the most trouble with her power, having tried many times but was still unsuccessful in stopping most of her illusions. Of course, once or twice she had been able to, but it was hard and took a lot of concentration.
She didn't care though, as much as she missed her parents and her sister, she couldn't really do much about it, and the Mutant Safe house, all the people in it were just like her family, and they cared for her.
They didn't doubt that she would some day be able to control her powers, and she really needed them to believe in her.
Ivy was the fastest learner, and could create just about anything now, and she got great pleasure in making gardens for the children to play in.
Ben's own power was hard to control, but he worked at it, hard too, he made it a goal to be strong enough to help the younger telepaths, they needed someone to guide them.
They'd gotten their powers early and the more they knew the better they could control. Ben made a pact to be their teacher.
Nichole took longer to perfect her powers and she was constantly working on them, but she was able to call on small sources now whenever needed.
Sophie had always had relative control of her powers and so helped the others whenever she could, and took special interest in the boy who created flames, he was dangerous with his powers and seeing as they both controlled an element she had some idea of how to help him. It wasn't an unusual sight to see them both meditating.
The children were the sweetest thing Mari had ever met; each and every one of them had been hurt in some way or another. Most were kicked from their homes at the first sign of their powers.
The safe house had to stay secret of course, select few like the restaurant owner and a few Salvation Army stores the only ones to know of its existence.
It was hard sometimes. Mari was now in control enough to go out in daylight, being one of the only 'adults' to look normal enough for a trip to the store.
Being one of the 'adults' had a lot of good points, she wasn't told what to do, she could stay up as late as she wanted, as long as she did sleep, and she had relative control over the younger ones.
It made her feel important to have so many children looking up to her, but then again, the responsibilities were sometimes overwhelming. She had to protect them with whatever she had, and she knew that the safe house wouldn't remain secret forever.
They'd been very careful as to not be noticed, and managed to get away with taking the children to the park a few times, but it was hard.
And when their secret came out she knew they'd have a lot to deal with, and that the kids would need a lot of protecting.
But as one of the leaders she had to help make decisions, which had never been her strong point. Now she had to make sure the kids were getting fed, getting sleep, being clean, their clothes weren't too dirty, and their powers weren't too much for them to handle.
It was a responsibility shared with them all, but the others grew stressed and needed someone there for them as well. The same as they were there for her. She never realized how much her parents actually had to do for her and her sister.
If she ever did manage to recreate their memories, she'd never complain about anything again.
It was Tuesday, almost two months after herself and Will had been found and taken to the Safe house, when Glenda asked Mari to take some of the money and buy some cough medicine.
Alex and Allie had both caught bad colds, with high fevers, something that Nichole couldn't really fix, considering she had it herself.
Besides, Glenda wanted the children to get it through their system, so that they'd build up some sort of immunity towards colds.
It was out of the question for either Will or Sophie to go, so Ben and Mari were given the job.
It was a simple one at that, walk down three streets to the pharmacist, Ben would buy the medicine seeing as he was the eldest and then they'd bring it back.
Mari figure that was all it would entail when she agreed, but as soon as they were half way down the street she realized that they'd be passing her old school.
She stopped, causing Ben to stop as well "You ok love?"
Mari swallowed "This goes straight past my old high school" She said her voice a little strained.
Ben grimaced "Don't worry Mari, you'll be ok, just walk straight past, nothing will happen."
"If they see me, they'll ask questions. I've been gone without a word and suddenly my parents pack up and leave?" Her voice hitched at the word 'Parents' but she didn't make a fuss of it.
"Just keep walking" he said, trying to reassure her.
The pharmacist, across the road from the eating area in the high school, was packed. Ben told her to wait outside while he squished in and tried to find the right medicine.
Mari watched the students eating and talking, wishing that she could be in there with them, living life the way she normally did.
She felt herself begin to day dream but stopped herself. She had an abnormally large imagination and tended to go off in day dreams frequently, with her gift, it wasn't a good idea. Especially not around all the people.
Ben was certainly taking his time, she groaned to herself when a group of people she knew started walking up to the fence.
She averted her gaze hoping they wouldn't recognize her. Too late.
"Mari?" Mari Thompson?" One of the girls called out.
She pretended she didn't hear but when they started climbing the fence she panicked.
They approached her with small smiles "Mari, it's us!"
She looked up at them "oh, Hi! I didn't hear you, how are you?"
They glanced at each other, not sure what to say next.
The tallest spoke up and Mari remembered her, one of her close friends.
"Why haven't you been at school lately, you're parents like, just moved out of your house?"
Mari nodded, ignoring the stab of pain that that caused, but not offering any more information.
It wasn't a good enough answer and they obviously couldn't let it go.
"Why? What happened?"
Mari opened her mouth to say something when Ben appeared at the entrance to the chemist.
"Mari c'mon we've gotta go!" He started towards her when the chemist called him back; he nodded at Mari and then ducked back inside for a moment.
That just killed it.
They started to bounce up and down "Oh wow, he's hot. Is he your boyfriend? He has to be like twenty! Is that why your parents kicked you out? Wow"
She tried to protest to their assumptions but they saw the teacher and made their escape.
"Talk to you later Mari!" One called over her shoulder, climbing into the school grounds again.
She sighed with relief and watched them being scolded by said teacher with a slight smile on her face.
Ben tapped her shoulder causing her to jump a little.
The girls in the school yard were watching curiously.
"Do you see them?" Ben asked her with a grin on his face.
She laughed "Yeah, old friends, think you're my boyfriend whom I was kicked out of my house for being so desperately in love with and now live in a small romantic cottage where we raise orphans" She said dramatically.
Ben started laughing and couldn't stop; he was nearly crying and bent over double still laughing.
"Ok, you can stop now" She said, attempting to sound irritated but bursting into a fit of giggles instead.
"Well" he said, catching his breath "Can't prove them wrong now can we"
He moved closer to her and kissed her, in true fairy tale fashion too.
The girls on the other side of the fence started squealing with joy and hugging each other.
Ben and Mari linked hands and walked around the corner before breaking into bouts of laughter again.
"I can't believe you!" She said between gasps.
"What, those poor girls needed a little excitement in their lives!"
Mari could only laugh in reply.
"Come on, Glenda won't be able to take much more of a sick Alex, especially if he keeps multiplying himself every time he coughs"
"Sure, can I try something first?"
He raised his fingers to his temples and hovered the medicine bottle in the air alone, after checking to make sure the coast was clear he lifted himself a few feet too.
"Wow" Was all Mari could say.
He grinned as he brought himself back down to the ground.
"I've been working on it for a while. I figure when my mind gets stronger I'll be able to 'fly"
They each kept walking, unaware that someone had seen the display, unaware that someone was following them.
"Alex, take the medicine. Your sister did, now be a good boy and just take it"
Alex pouted and Sophie sighed.
"It's no use, he won't drink it" She said to a very cheerful Will.
"Oh well, since he's deciding to remain sick I guess I'll eat his desert tonight"
Alex lurched forward snatching the spoon from Sophie and hurriedly spooning it down.
"Ha, look!" He cried gleefully before breaking into a fit of coughs.
"Good kid, Well, I'll remember to bring you back some food ok?" Will followed the gaggle of students out the door, leaving Nichole, Alex and Allie to their own devices.
A few moments later the young fire starter Nicolas entered the room, complaining of a sore stomach. Nichole got herself from bed and tucked him in, easing his pain a little with her power.
She looked up when a loud crash was heard outside. Then there were whispers. She had a horrible feeling in her stomach and whispered to the children.
"Alex and Allie, don't say anything I want you to come over here…Now"
Silently they did what they were told; Nicolas sat up in his bed, his lower lip quivering. "Don't worry, you'll be ok.
The electricity cut.
This time it was Allie who let out a whimper and she tugged on Nichole's skirt.
Nichole searched blindly for a candle and after lighting it set it on the ground around them.
Nicolas's eyes lit up and she gave him a hard look, reminding him that this was not the time.
Another crash, louder this time and a lot closer.
Nichole could feel her heart pounding in her chest and she wished upon all the stars that she had a power that could help her defend the children.
The door burst open and three burly looking men and two snarling women entered the door.
"Mutants. I knew it. Right under our noses" One sneered, pointing at them.
"You'll pay for this mutant" Another growled.
Nichole back up, pushing the children behind her.
The group grinned cruelly as they advanced but their expressions switched to fear and they started backing up.
Nichole couldn't figure out why, until she saw eleven year old Nicolas with two large balls of fire in each hand. The candle that had been lit was not lit and she realized that he'd manipulated it.
"Leave us alone!" He shouted throwing the fire towards them, they started to back farther up, each holding up a pipe or varied weapon, showing no signs of giving up just yet.
Nicole didn't know what to do; only that she had to protect the kids with everything she had.
"What do you want?" She shouted, keeping the fear out of her voice.
"We want you gone"
The others returned right at that moment, and upon seeing was what happening sprung into action. Glenda ordered all the children back outside, hoping that they hadn't seen anything.
Ivy immediately created vines, ordering the greenery to wrap itself around one of the women's neck.
Sophie having perfected a technique she'd been working on drew from the water in her body and watered out the flames that had been threatening to close in on Nichole and the children, slumping to the floor not long after.
Mari raced forward, scrambling to find some water for the young Sprite.
Ben concentrated on some large beams above the intruders lifting them and setting them loose before dropping them.
Mari focused, creating an image; it was an empty room, not a single thing inside.
The intruders looked around, confused and Nicole smiled.
"You're doing it girl" She whispered, handing Alex to Glenda and lifting the other two herself running them outside while the intruders were taken care of.
Will lifted Sophie, who surprisingly, hardly weighed a thing at all, and carted her away.
Ben remained to make sure Mari was ok, and soon enough, the intruders had left, screaming and shouting bloody murder.
Ben cheered and turned to congratulate Mari but found she was not responsive.
Her eyes were blank and she stood there, in a zombie like state for two minutes before collapsing entirely.
"Glenda! Nichole! Help!"
Authors Note: I just want to point out that the character Mari, is based after my friend Kate, and therefore technically belongs to her... :D