Disclaimer: The X-Men and Brotherhood belong to Marvel. Several OCs belong to their repective authors, including a few being me.
Author's note: ...bleh
So to your great joy, I am back and not dead. I did suffer from a terrible cold though. It's been 3 weeks almost, a horrifying amount of time for me to have not updated, but finally Chapter 16 is here, and soon will be followed closely behind by Chapter 17 (Monday I predict). There's not much I need to say except if I am missing again for a long span of time: check my profile. Chances are I've updated the "What's going on?" section (in the middle), saying something about my excuse for not having a new chapter up. This chapter originally had a different intro, but that is on a different computer so I'll probably update it with the next chapter.
Enjoy. Lee. Review. Learn a bit of Spanish.
"Good, good Benj. You are improving."
Benj and Strom stood in the center of the Danger Room, which was enveloped in a dense fog. Storm's recovery was nothing short of miraculous; the poison seemingly vanished from her system around twenty-five hours after injection. It was Wednesday of that week, a time when Benj had scheduled his "power discovery" as the professor liked to call it.
"Now try to get rid of it." Storm suggested.
Benj wiped some condensation from his goggles and took a deep breath. Extending his arms outward he reached out with his powers.
In the short amount of time he'd been at the Institute he'd pretty much figured out how his powers worked. At first Storm suggested they might be emotion driven, like here, but soon that proved to be false. They worked when he could "grasp" the air around him and bent it to his will. He found it difficult to explain it to other people, but he understood them now. An almost extension of himself was what the air became when he opened his mind to it.
As of then Benj was focusing on bringing the temperature in the room up a bit to dispense of the fog.
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 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 Ms. O?"
Storm chuckled at his glee. "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.
"Do not channel the air through you." Storm clarified. "You are quite good at that."
The teen shuffled his feet, brushed some blonde hair from his face, and readjusted his gloves with the yellow accents. "Okay, 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 almost smugly.
He grumbled something under his breath as he took a 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.
Slightly disheartened, Benj attempted his task again. And again… and again.
His powers just wouldn't stretch like that. Any sort of wind gust he had to channel through or right around him.
Frustrated, Benj cut 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 cut off harshly.
"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.
"Please, Rick not around him." This time it was a woman's.
"Him? Did you see what he did? I need some answers here!"
"Benj! Benj! What's wrong?" Storm cried out. To the teen her voice sounded foggy and distant.
"No…" Benj whispered, his eyes going wide. He knew what happened next.
"It's not normal. No boy should have that kind of power!" The man shouted from inside of Benj's head.
"Stop it Rick! We'll talk about this at home! Pay attention to the road!" The woman screamed.
"Dad look out!" A young boy's voice echoed 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..."
"Benj!" Storm yelled again, coming to his side. Gently she placed a hand on his shoulder. He twitched slightly at her touch and placed his hands on the ground. His breathing was heavy and his shoulders shook. "What happened?"
He took in a shaky breath and tore off his goggles, flinging them across the room. "I don't really know… nothing like that's ever happened before."
"Do you want to talk with the professor?"
"Yeah, that would help." Storm started to walk away then Benj stood up and stopped her. "Wait! Storm, could… could I ask you something?"
"Of course." She answered, turning around.
"Have… have you ever lost someone that was close to you?"
Storm frowned slightly and saw that Benj's eyes had gotten misty. "Yes, 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 stood staring at the ground. "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.
Storm walked closer and put an arm around him. "How old were you when they died?"
"Seven…" He whispered, leaning into her hug.
"Only seven? Oh you poor child."
They stood 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 Benj."
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 on 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 yar 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, yar 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 smile.
"Ya're nearly as insane as yar brothah. Ya are willin' to try ta pass out?" Rogue teased.
"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 same feeling was projected from Rogue as they sat under that tree.
He put his other hand behind her neck and drew her in closer, savoring the moments. 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 is energy 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 back onto his back. She smiled when she saw him with a small grin on his face.
"Moron." She whispered, stopping the stop-watch. Forty-five seconds… he'd probably need medical attention this time.
The Haven
Clay grabbed some cash she'd been saving up off of her desk in her room. Unlike the other's rooms, Clay's didn't look very lived in, and had no bed. Instead there was just a mat and pillow on the floor. Most of her squad member's 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 and was tempted to grab the sword and take it with her. Zendi walked down the hall and 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 Swiss army knife out of her boot. "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 as they 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 with purple-streaks in her hair said cheerfully. "Just was about to start my homework anyways." She added glumly.
"Perk-up there!" Clay shouted. "It could always be worse."
"Yeah, you could be stuck reading an entire book in Spanish." Cloak grumbled, trying a new position on the couch. Them reading a whole book in Spanish was like him reading his English book. He got most of it, but it gave him a head ache.
"Sorry Ricky, I wish I could help," Portal apologized, "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 promises 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?"
Before she could answer Zendi butted in. "She loves being 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.
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."
Clay and Zendi jumped through the portal and emerged in, as usual, 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 on, 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 girls turned around to watch the scene.
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 of helmet. He held a few loaves of bread and a couple cans in a store basket, as well as money to pay for it.
"I am gonna pay for it." The mutant repeated.
Clay's eyes widened as she recognized him as Evan Daniels, or Spyke, a former X-Man. She'd done enough research on them to put names and powers to faces, and there was no mistaking him.
"That kid used 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. Stay here" She ordered, handing the game to Zendi before leaving.
Zendi sighed and leaned against a shelf. Clay liked to come up with the crazy plans.
Suddenly through the door burst a man in a ski mask. He held a metal pipe in his hand and approached the counter with speed.
Instantly Zendi could tell it was Clay, she had left her eyes unchanged as to warn her friend.
"Alright, everybody step back!" The ski mask guy yelled gruffly. 'He' pointed the pipe at the clerk. "Whatcha got in the register?"
The clerk began fumbling to open it. The robber continued to approach the counter, casting menacing glances at all other customers.
Evan stepped in front of the robber and blocked 'his' path.
"You got a problem, dude?" He asked, glaring up at the masked man.
"I'm gonna have a problem with you in a few seconds, mutie." The robber replied, making as to swing the pipe at Evan.
The mutant stepped back and extended spikes from his forearms. "Think twice dude." He shot the flaming-tipped spikes at the opposing man, sending him flying into a wall and pinning him there.
Clay didn't enjoy the pinching from Evan's spikes, but she chose not to move. The clerk looked bewildered at Evan and shook his head in amazement.
"Take what you want, honestly."
Evan cracked a little smile and before he walked out the door called back to the clerk: "You might wanna call the cops!" And left.
The clerk nodded and turned around to the phone behind the counter. After dialing, he turned back around to where the robber was. They were gone.
Xavier Institute
For, what the third time, Benj woke up in the infirmary bed. He groaned slightly at his stupidity. He'd probably be better off dead right now, because he anticipated the professor's words as they came out of his mouth.
"What were you thinking? You must be more careful!" The professor said.
"I know, I know… I just hate being so limited with Rogue." Benj sighed. "You get it right?"
Xavier regretfully nodded. "That being so… you can't continue with this if this is going to be a normal occurrence."
Benj sat up straighter. "Are you stating I shouldn't be with Rogue because of this? It was one stupid idea of mine—"
"Yes, and that one stupid idea will lead to another. Benj, listen, we want what's best for you even if—"
"Even if it doesn't seem like it. Right." Benj finished somewhat angry. 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 of course, you had to deal with the effects of pushing things beyond.
Oh, Evan. I loved him so much in the series, I just had to have him in a glimmer here.
And thanks guys for not noticing the line in the last chapter that read "Lance stuck his eyes in the ignition." Sorry Lance, that won't get your car to start. Oh the joys of quick editing!