Disclaimer: The X-Men, and Brotherhood aren't mine. The OCs are only partly mine. Let's see, Fenris belongs to: AvengedVeralin , Sionnach belongs to: San child of the wolves. The other OCs are of course, mine. Thanks guys.
Author's note: May the 4th be with you!
Yeah, it's not May 4th... that's when I wanted this to be up... and then I wrote 5 more pages. You know how it goes. There's a passage in here that I call 'portal catch' where Wanda and Portal are throwing the portals back and forth. An explanation: Portal can move and manipulate the portals she opens, so when Wanda uses her power against her is able to do things like she does.
Great so check it out.
Red. Enjoy. Review. (oops, Read)
Benj twisted his head to the side and prepared some defense to Mastermind's attack. The elder mutant struck out with his mind in a practiced way, focusing on the younger's memories and beginning to alter them. His face twisted in pain as he tried putting up a mental barrier. As his memories continued to slip he mustered up the strongest shield he could and started trying to contact Leo.
If only Jean was at the Institute more, she was the one who helped him most of the time with his telepathic powers.
'Come on Leo, I need you!'
Vince raced down the sidewalk until he came up to the gates of the Xavier Institute.
"Great… now what do I do? Knock?" Vince grumbled, his scratchy voice grating with his emotions. He ran a hand through his short buzzed hair and went up to a panel next to the gate. He studied it for a second then pressed a button.
"Pick up… pick up!"
Danger Room
"Jamie, duck!" Leo yelled. It was a full blown Danger Room session. Everyone at the Institute was thrown into the midst of a battle that made the older students reminiscent of the Sentinel attack.
A flaming ball of fire went soaring over the young mutant's head. He rolled away from a robot that slashed its arm down.
"Thanks Leo!" Jamie yelled, ducking as another projectile went by and splitting himself up into three and running in different directions.
The objective was basic: don't die and defeat all enemies. Xavier and Wolverine had split the students into pairs who were responsible for each other's safety. Jamie and Leo were paired, Scott and Kurt, Jean and Rogue (which was ironic), Tabitha and Amara, Bobby and Ray, Sam and Colossus, Kitty was supposed to be paired with Benj, but since he never showed Logan became her partner. Ty had been the odd man out and was going to have Storm paired up with him, but like Benj, he didn't return so in this case Storm sat out.
The entire Danger Room had transformed into a large warehouse swarming with humanoid robots with blades as arms and/or laser cannons as arms. Each robot was shiny silver with elongated heads and wires easily exposed, twisting down their arms and legs. Stacks of wooden crates filled the space and the group as a whole was split up.
A robot grabbed a crate and threw it at Jean. She had been pulling apart another robot nearby with her powers while Rogue was doing hand-to-hand combat with another. The crate slammed into Jean and caused her to be propelled into the wall.
Rogue saw that her partner had fallen and kicked the robot she was fighting again. Then she ripped its blade arm off and slashed its head off with its own arm. She threw herself at the robot that was charging at Jean.
Jean rose groggily and stood. She turned to see Rogue fighting the robot that had thrown the box at her, but she didn't realize that's what she was doing. "Rogue! You couldn't have warned me?"
Rogue grunted as she whirled her stolen arm at the other robot's chest, slicing it in half. After it fell she stomped up to her partner. "So sorry, Jean, Ah can't exactly work fast with the powahs Ah got!" She growled.
Jean flushed and looked away. "I'm sorry… I forgot."
There was a sound to their right, Rogue turned her head and saw a robot flying through the air straight toward them. "Get down!" She yelled, tackling Jean.
"What are you— uhn!"
The robot crashed by overhead, followed by Colossus and Cannonball.
"That should teach them!" Colossus grunted with his thick accent.
"Alright man!" Sam cheered. He turned and saw another robot approaching. "Ah got this one!" He blasted straight toward the opponent, his legs seemingly transforming into a cyclone to propel him. He crashed into it then stood up. "Dude, remind me to get a helmet!" He rubbed his head and took a few dizzy steps.
Wolverine snarled as five robots surrounded and tackled him. Their blades cut into his skin as he slashed his own claws at them, but with them so close it was hard to do any proper damage.
Shadowcat saw his problem and ran toward him, phasing through the robots and dragging Wolverine out of the mix. The robots shorted out and sparks flew from their joints. The pair watched the robots fall to the ground.
Wolverine turned to Shadowcat and clapped her on the back. "Nice job half-pint." He twitched and rounded on another robot that was coming up.
A red streak of energy went past as well, sending another into a stack of boxes. The crates toppled, scattering the mutants from the falling debris.
Nightcrawler flashed in and grabbed Sam who was in danger of being crushed by a falling box. He ported next to Colossus who was a second ago prepared to charge in and save his partner.
Colossus smiled at the elf, "Thank you, comrade. I would be very sorry if my partner was injured."
"No problem!" Kurt said. He looked around at the destroyed pile of wood and saw Cyclops. Knowing there was still robots to kill he ported over to his partner.
The metal giant waved away the smell of sulfur and commented to Cannonball. "Have you gotten used to the scent?"
"Nah, I don't think you can ever get used to it."
"Yahoo!" Tabitha yelled. She danced into the crate wreckage throwing firecrackers willy-nilly.
"TABITHA! TABITHA!" Amara called after her friend. "You're going to hurt someone!"
"That's the point, girly!" Tabitha laughed. A large group of robots were gathering again, but Tabitha's seemingly random fire was keeping them back.
She held one hand above her head and focused on gathering energy in her hand to form a huge firecracker. "Okay, tin cans, let's see how you hold up to this one." She muttered, tossing her formation at three robots advancing on her. It lodged in one of their chests before exploding.
Professor Xavier and Storm observed the events occurring on the video monitors in the control room.
Storm chuckled slightly. "You have to admit, Tabitha really has come a long way with her powers."
"Yes, yes she has." Professor X chuckled as well.
Suddenly a light blinked on one of the panels. Perplexed Xavier rolled over to it and tapped a button. The screen above it wavered to show a teen wearing a black T-shirt and cargo shorts outside the gates.
"Who is that?" Storm asked, frowning a little.
Charles closed his eyes to try to remember. "I believe that's Benj's friend Vincent Bohr." He looked at the screen again. "What is he doing here?"
Leo dodged under a robot's arm and quickly shifted into his lion humanoid shift. The golden lion roared and grabbed the robot by its head and legs. With ease he tore it in half, causing sparks to fly.
"Ahhh!"
Leo whirled around to find Jamie, recognizing his scream. The younger mutant was sprawled in a broken wooden crate. Another robot was advancing on him.
"JAMIE!" Leo roared, running to his aid.
He swung his arm at the robot and decapitated it. Next he ran to his partner. "Dude, come on man, don't black out." Leo said softly, cradling Jamie's head in his arm.
There was a bit of blood on the back of his head and from a gash in his arm. "Uh… I'm… t-t-trying." Jamie stuttered.
"Shh… listen Jamie, try to stay awake, I'm gonna go get Wolverine."
Leo placed him down gently, putting some boxes around him so no robots would see him. He jumped up and ran toward where he could hear Wolverine's growls.
'Come on Leo, I need you!' Benj's voice cut through Leo's thoughts, causing him to stumble.
'Benj! What is it?' Leo asked in his mind.
'I need to borrow your strength, I-I'm in serious trouble here.'
'Hold on, so is Jamie.'
Leo kept running toward Wolverine, slashing robots on the way. He reached his mentor out of breath and even more stressed.
"Wolverine, you gotta call the trainin'. Jamie's hurt."
Wolverine growled. "What happened, where is he?"
"I was fightin' and a 'bot got him." He pointed to where he left him and wavered.
'A little more warnin' Benj. Take as much as you need now.' Leo replied in his head. He closed his eyes and focused on lending his strength to his brother over their empathic link.
Stumbling a little, Leo grimaced as fatigue started spreading from his head. He leaned against the crates nearby.
Logan raised an eyebrow behind his mask at Leo. "Are ya okay runt?"
The feline mutant sighed. "Yeah, just get to Jamie."
Wolverine ran off, shouting to the control booth. "Chuck, cut it!"
Tabitha and Magma were nearby where Wolverine had been and noticed Leo's fatigue.
"Uh oh… he's gonna fall." Tabitha yelled. The two ran over and caught Leo as he stumbled again. They could just barely hold him up though, since he was still in his lion shift.
"Leo, shift to human!" Amara groaned under his weight.
"S-sssorry." Leo muttered, shrinking down to his human shift. There was quite a bit of sweat on his brow.
Xavier looked back at the combat monitors as he heard Logan's shout. "Oh no. Computer, cease simulation!"
The Danger Room below blinked, the simulation fading out.
Logan crouched next to Jamie, lifting him slowly. "Hold in there kid." He turned his face up to the control room. "Chuck, we need immediate medical attention here."
"Better make that a double dose!" Tabitha called out as she and Amara dragged a weak Leo over.
Leo cringed. "Benj is in some sorta danger."
Xavier rubbed his forehead. There were too many situations to handle.
"Charles, what would you like me to do?" Storm asked softly.
"Find Beast and get Leo and Jamie to the medical bay. I'll see what Vince wants, it may be important if Leo is saying Benj is in trouble."
Vince was growing impatient. He knew climbing over the gate was probably a bad idea though… who knew what type of security this place had?
Suddenly a voice came from the panel.
"Vincent Bohr?" The voice was calming and Vince sighed with relief.
"Finally! Are you the professor?"
"Yes I am young man."
"Listen, Benj is in serious trouble. He, aw man he's such an idiot, he broke into the Brotherhood House." Vince said, picking up his board.
There was a pause. "Why would he do that?"
"I don't know, his brother Ty was there and—"
"Tyler?" The professor asked. "Thank you for letting us know Vince, why don't you go home now."
Vince shook his head, although he knew the professor couldn't see him, well he thought he couldn't. "Nuh-uh, I'm not leaving until I know he's okay."
There was another pause and a puff of smoke appeared next to Vince. Kurt shook his fuzzy head at the human.
"You don't make much sense, man." He grabbed him and they ported inside.
As Vince took in the nice interior Kurt smiled. "I guess that is what makes you one of the good ones."
The shield held. Benj thanked his lucky stars for a brother like Leo, as he continued to sap his strength to preserve the mental shield that was keeping him safe from Mastermind.
After a while Mastermind backed away and sighed to his master. "The boy, although he has weak telepathic powers, is well adapted at defensive techniques. I cannot break him."
Benj sighed as he hung from the wires. His long blonde hair was plastered to his forehead with sweat and blood trickled from his wrists to the ground.
Magneto looked at Mastermind. "Your services are no longer required, leave."
The telepath nodded and seemingly melted into the shadows. In reality he inched back into the doorway he had come from, which closed softly behind him.
"If we must do it this way, fine." Magneto sighed. "Sabretooth, retrieve his brother Ty."
Sabretooth snarled in reply and started up the stairs.
"No!" Benj yelled, straining against the wires holding him. Restrained like that he couldn't even use his air bending abilities.
"One way or another, you will find the Brotherhood to be where you must belong." Magneto said ominously,
One of the screens blinked red. The older mutant turned and tried to hide his surprise.
"Pyro, get out there."
"As much as I want ta boss—"
"Now!"
"I'm goin'!" Pyro called, nearly flying up the stairs.
Ty revved his motorcycle, still unaware of what was going on around him. A portal opened just behind him and Clay's squad tumbled out.
"Ever heard of 'single file'?" Portal growled as she closed the portal. She turned and saw Tyler Dyson just sitting on his bike. "Uh… guys?"
Clay saw him to and went around in front of him. "No worries, he's with Xavier." She squinted slightly. "Aaand, he appears to be brainwashed… great."
The fog started to lift off of Ty's brain and he looked up into Clay's eyes. "What the—?"
Sabretooth came tearing out of the Brotherhood's front door, followed closely by Pyro. The animalistic mutant growled and prepared to pounce. Pyro let out a laugh and sent flames spiraling at the teens.
"Spread out!" Clay cried.
The squad scattered as Ty came to. He saw the flames coming and tore off his jacket. He put his bare arms in front of his face in an 'X' and absorbed the fire. The pyromaniac stopped as he realized what Ty could do.
"Yeah, nice try." Ty said, heat radiating off of him. His T-shirt was on fire and dropped off of him in burning clumps.
"Ah yah, maybe ya ain't the one I should be fightin'…" Pyro laughed, turning his gaze to Clay. "Now, ya Shelia!" He blast fire out of his flamethrower and transformed it into a charging bull.
Clay rolled out of the way and transformed her arms into shovels and threw dirt onto the fire bull. It disappeared under the dust and Clay shook her arms out.
"You're goin' to have to try harder Pyro!" Clay called.
"Why ya!"
Sabretooth took the time that Pyro had distracted Clay to pounce on her. She grunted as she was pinned to the ground.
Fenris ran up and bit down on Sabretooth's shoulder. He yelled in pain and whirled around to throw the wolf off. This gave Clay the opportunity to get up and unsheathe her sword.
"I think this cat needs a haircut!"
"What the hell is going on here?"
A Jeep, more specifically Lance's Jeep, pulled into the driveway. Lance growled and his eyes rolled back as the ground shook.
A crack went along the ground and caused most of the mutants to lose their balance. Lance jumped out of his car and advanced on the mutants.
Clay smiled. This just kept getting more fun!
"Uh… dude what does the red light mean again?" Toad looked up from a bean bag chair in Blob's room. A flashing light was fixed above every Brotherhood member's door that blinked different colors depending on what Magneto wanted.
Blob absently turned his head from the television that was now in his room. "I dunno… how should I know?"
"It means we're under attack you numbskulls!" Wanda said, pausing at the open door to the Blob's room. She was already decked out in her Scarlet Witch garb.
Toad jumped up and hopped over to her. "Thanks sugar-lips! What would I do without you?"
Wanda rolled her eyes and growled. "Don't make me fling you out of a window…" She walked on down the hallway, "…again!"
Blob and Pietro snickered from inside the room.
"Ah, shut up." Toad muttered. He called after Wanda. "Hey, wait up my cuddly-kins!"
"Get away from me Toad!"
A sword swung over Sabretooth's head as he ducked underneath it. As Clay swung it again he clasped the flat of the blade in between his hands.
Clay showed no surprise beneath her mask, there might have even been a glimmer of laughter in her neon green eyes. She tugged the sword downward slicing through the top layer of the skin on Sabretooth's hands.
He snarled and lunged at her; in turn she spun around and back flipped out of his reach.
Lance outstretched his hands and caused the ground beneath Clay to ripple, so when she landed she stumbled. Sabretooth kept coming at her though. Fenris saw the impending danger to her and summoned her sound manipulation powers.
She howled straight at the pair causing a mass of sound waves to crash into them.
Sabretooth landed on top of the leader only to be blow off by the sonic waves crashing into him. Clay dropped her sword and clasped her hands over her ears and grimaced. The vibrations from the sound were causing her form to shake, but as soon as Fenris stopped she pulled it back together.
The wolf-dog sprinted over to Clay and poked her with her nose. Clay sat up shakily.
"Thanks."
"Well what do we have here?" Blob said as he blundered out of the house.
Toad hoped out after him. "Yo, Magneto ain't said nothin' bout some newbies!" The rest of the Brotherhood assembled around him in their gear (except Lance of course, he was still dressed in his usual ripped jeans, black T-shirt, and brown jacket).
"Now, hold up." Clay said, standing. The other Haven mutants and Spades regrouped behind her. "I don't think having what…" She raised a finger and pointed to each Brotherhood member, counting, "…six, seven Brotherhood against five of us is very fair."
Spades snorted. "Make that six, I'm sticking around for this fight."
Clay smiled beneath her mask. "Let's even it out a little then. Portal?"
Portal's hand twitched and one of her portals opened up right next to Sabretooth. Before the man could do anything it engulfed him and vanished.
"Better." Clay said. "Anyone wanna call dibs?"
"Leave Pyro to me." Spades said, opening his palm and letting fire spill out.
"What are we waiting for?" Lance yelled, confronting his team. "Get 'em!"
The Brotherhood charged forward matching up with each Haven member.
Ty intercepted Pyro as he went for Cloak and grabbed his shoulders. The Aussie didn't know what hit him as the demon threw him into some scaffolding. The Blob charged at Cloak, seeing him as an easy and weak target. Quicksilver sped toward Clay, hoping to knock the shape-shifter off her feet. Portal opened a portal and appeared behind the Scarlet Witch. Toad looked quickly at the line-up and hopped toward Fenris, hoping he would not die. Lance opened his hands wide and caused a crack to spread along the ground toward Kitsune.
And of course, chaos ensued.
As Blob yelled running at Cloak, the smaller mutant vanished. "What the…?" Blob muttered as he looked around for where he went. Suddenly a loud crack sounded from the back of his skull. Blob fell forward and behind him rematerialized Cloak, holding his metal Bo staff.
"You know what they say about size…" Cloak mumbled.
"Yeah, well I'm gonna tear you to pieces pipsqueak!" Blob roared, pulling himself up and throwing himself at Cloak. He sidestepped and swung his staff at the large mutant's back. Another loud crack was heard, but The Blob did not falter from this blow.
"Nice try, but I'm much stronger than you!" He yelled as he whirled back around and grabbed Cloak around his middle.
The mutant struggled but the pressure put on his chest was too much for him to handle. Black specks swam in front of his vision and he struggled to take a breath.
Kitsune leaped over the spreading crack in the ground and snarled as he ran at Lance. He'd been itching for a fight for a long time and finally Sionnach got his wish. His deep maroon hair was tied back and his fox ears stood above them. As he leaped through the air toward Lance he twisted and aimed a kick at the other teen's stomach.
Lance tried to raise his arms to block but failed miserably and went skidding across the ground.
"Too easy." Sionnach growled, he snapped his fingers nonchantly. Suddenly a blue flame appeared above them. His eyes widened and he tried shaking his hand to make it go away, instead it crawled steadily up his arm, tickling the flesh. "Ack!" He yelled, startled. "Damn powers!"
He saw that Lance was beginning to get up and grabbed him by the back of his shirt.
"You mutants don't know when to lie down and give up." Kitsune growled.
Alvers looked at him like he was insane. "Uh, you're a mutant."
"I. KNOW!" Kitsune yelled.
Quicksilver did not like whoever this girl with the bright green eyes was. No matter how he moved to attack her she would dodge it in a split second or block it. He wasn't getting tired, just frustrated. At least she showed signs of wearing down.
Clay ducked under a hasty punch of her rival and bent her body out of the way of another. She could dodge everything, but the concentration and focus needed was more than she liked. She had long sheathed her sword; she had rules about on who and when to use it. Anyone adult was fair game, as well as those with additional weapons of their own, and mutants with healing factors. The gray-skinned mutant was unafraid of taking a life, but preferred not to unless absolutely necessary.
Plus this kid hadn't cause her to completely hate him yet, and who could argue he wasn't attractive?
Get your head out of the clouds. She barked at herself.
Clay chanced a glance at the others and saw that e everyone was doing okay-until Blob grabbed cloak. She could tell he was being crushed.
Ignoring her opponent for a moment she called out to Sionnach who had Lance by the back of his shirt.
"Kitsune!" He whirled around. She pointed hastily at Cloak and Blob. "Cloak's in trou- ooff!"
The speedster knocked her off her feet in her momentary distraction.
"Pay attention!" Pietro teased, grabbing her by her shoulders and tossing her.
Sionnach looked away from Clay to his other squad member's dire situation. Seeing Cloak in such pain made him desperate. He snarled, and though he hated it, used his powers to shift into his Kitsune form. His tail split into three and more lean muscles built under his tight fit uniform. His face elongated into the snout of a fox and his harp black nails grew longer, as did his fangs.
Blue flames dripped off his arms onto his hostage as he swung him around in a circle before discus throwing Lance at his own teammate.
Blob was smiling menacingly as he continued the pressure on Cloak. The vanishing mutant floundered in any attempt to breathe or pry the meaty hands off of him.
Quite suddenly, and thankfully for Enrique, a flaming blue Lance flew through the air at Blob. Lance yelled as he saw his perpetual doom.
He collided solidly with blob, causing the huge mutant to stumble back and drop Cloak. The two Brotherhood boys ended in a heap, the blue flames beginning to cover both of their dazed forms.
As the two realized they were on fire and ran off swatting the flames, Sionnach ran to Cloak.
He knelt down next to the white-haired mutant and propped his head up. Cloak's breathing was labored and his eyes were half open and rolling to the back of his head.
"Come on Cloak, stay with me here…"
Portal ducked and slid back in the dirt, the bottom edge of her long black trench coat skirting the tops of the blades of grass. Her curls bounced from her face and she frowned at Wanda, who had just sent one of her portals flying back at her.
"Careful, you might end up sending someone into the Pacific Ocean." Portal scolded, opening her palm and causing the air beside her to form into a swirling mass of energy. She swung her arm forward and the portal followed suit like it had been thrown, but keeping its flat side toward the Scarlet Witch.
Wanda extended her own hands, blue energy encasing them. Her own energy took over the portal, switching it from purple to an electric blue.
"The ocean, huh? Ya don't say…" She snarled, flicking her hand and sending the portal at the Haven mutant.
Portal braced herself as the portal swallowed her.
Wanda shrugged and turned from where Portal had disappeared. "Those morons!" She sighed as she watched Lance and Blob try to extinguish the flames crawling all over their clothes.
Behind her there was a whooshing sound and a portal opened at about eye level. She turned. What she imagined to be a couple hundred gallons of water poured out of it as well as a few fish… and a very soggy Portal.
The gateway closed as Portal clenched her fist. She stared daggers at the witch and thought about how much she would enjoy tearing the goth's hair out.
She spat out some sea water and grimaced. "Funny…" Portal growled. She got up from the ground slowly and was about to charge her opponent when Toad did it for her.
"Help me snookims! The big bad wolf is tryin' ta eat me!" He squealed. He wrapped his arms and legs around her and refused to let go.
"Get off of me Toad!" Wanda snarled, trying to pry the flailing mutant off of her.
Rena ran up in her wolf morph and barked at Toad, almost playfully. She was having too much funny messing with this scaredy-cat toad. He squealed and squirmed all over Wanda. The witch let loose a string of curses and tried to put her hands between him and her.
Portal smiled. "Nice Fenris." She conjured up a portal behind the toad and wich then slid it over them. The portal closed and Portal sighed. "Two down…"
"Portal, open!" Clay's voice shouted.
The two turned and saw a white and blue-green blur speeding toward them.
"Outamywaygirls!" Pietro shouted as he got nearer. He was running from what appeared to be a Sabertooth-cat. The wooly beast was huge, it's tan fur collecting sunlight and its two foot long fangs glinted.
The girl with the purple streaks in her hair didn't hesitate. She opened a portal quickly.
Quicksilver tried to skid to a halt, but he tripped inches away and fell through.
The sabertooth-cat stopped in its run. An uncanny smile spread across its muzzle. Then it morphed down to Clay. She pulled her mask off a little and took a deep breath.
"Let's go, the mutant we're lookin' for is in the basement of the Brotherhood House." Clay froze. Her eyes caught Sionnach cradling Cloak on the ground. "Cloak!"
The girls ran over to the pair.
Sionnach looked up, his Kitsune morph had faded away. His eyes burned from behind his glasses.
"We need to leave, now." He said.
Clay shook her head. "Not now, we need to do this."
"Hey, you know, I'm not complaining at all…" Spades approached the Haven mutants. Pyro laid unconscious in an heap of broken scaffolding. "But what the hell are you all doing here anyways?"
"Tell you later…" Clay said, eying him suspiciously. She shrugged and pointed at him. "Come with me, I believe he's your brother."
"What…?" Ty asked, confused.
"Come on! Portal, Fenris, Kitsune, guard the front door and Cloak. This shouldn't take long." Clay commanded, grabbing Tyler's searing skin and rushing inside.
No sooner had the two ran inside the house then the X-Van pulled up to the boarding house. A small group of X-Men, including Cyclops, Rogue, Jean, Shadowcat, and Nightcrawler filed out. Wolverine stepped out of the driver's seat, beyond pissed, and the professor remained sitting in the passenger's seat.
"The door, now!" Portal urged. Sionnach dragged Cloak back and the other two simply ran for it.
The two remaining Brotherhood members had successfully extinguished the flames and were angrily walking back to where the brawls had taken place with burnt holes in their shirts. They saw the X-Men as well and groaned.
"Who do we squish first: the X-Men, or the runts?" Blob growled, cracking his knuckles.
"To Hell with the X-Men, these new mutants need to be taught a lesson." Lance growled, picking off a charred piece of his vest. "The X-Geeks might even help us with this one." He looked nervously at Kitty. Whenever they saw each other on the battle field they had a hard time. He wanted so badly to hurt the new arrivals, but he cared about her safety more. How could he do both? He wondered.
Leo stumbled out of the infirmary and to the garage. His head still swam a bit from the energy he lost to Benj. Things were a little chaotic around the mansion so he hoped no one would notice him leaving.
Then again…
A hand caught him just as he was about to face plant into the hardwood floor.
"Watch yourself there, kitten."
Leo smiled. "Tabs…" He whispered, leaning heavily on her. Luckily this time he wasn't in his lion shift, so his small human frame wasn't that much weight. "You don't mind drivin' me to the Brotherhood house do you?"
"Would you drive yourself if I didn't?" Tabitha asked, walking along with him. Both were still in their uniforms, neither had bothered to change out of them, in fact no one had. Since returning Tabitha had worn her unofficial uniform from her time as a Bayville Siren and the one she helped fight the horsemen in.
Leo nodded. He took a too big of a step and stumbled again.
"Well it's a good thing I'm here then. There's no way you'd live if I didn't!" Tabitha laughed, hiding her concern. "Wait a sec, you drive a stick-shift, don't you?"
"Uh… yeah."
"Damn it Leo, can't you drive something normal!" Tabitha growled. "Oh well…" Her voice took on a tone that said she knew they were about to do something stupidly fun for the heck of it. "…I guess we'll have to take someone else's." She looked at Leo as they stepped into the garage.
The X-Men team had already left, but the two's eyes fell on a car they knew they would never get to drive again.
Both looked at each other and smiled, answering the same. "Scott's car!"
"WAHOO!" Tabitha yelled, speeding her way to the Brotherhood House. "Nothing like a little road trip, eh?"
Leo clutched the sides of the car. "Scott's gonna kill us."
"Worry about that later, kitten!" Tabitha shouted. Her good mood was enhanced by her hasty speed. "So what exactly is wrong?"
The red haired mutant sighed. "Benj is bein' held up by Magneto and some telepath. He err… borrowed some of my mental strength to fight the guy off, but he's exhausted, I'm exhausted… the Brotherhood's insane. You know, the usual."
"Understood." The girl said as they pulled the red car up behind the X-Van.
The two cringed as they watched the chaos in front of them.
The X-Men were trying everything they could to get in the front door, throwing things, blasting things, running straight at it, but they were unable to get there.
Fenris kept up an almost constant force field up. She had shaped her mouth in a most un-wolfish way and emitted a strange howling bark from her throat that formed visible light blue force field of sound.
Anything that broke through was transported away by one of Portal's mini portals, and she had just started reopening them behind the X-Men so they were hitting themselves basically.
Both Kurt and Kitty lay knocked out on the ground from such events and Lance was having a hard time not showing concern. Finally throwing caution to the wind he knelt beside her and tried to wake her up. The X-Men appeared confused by this, but they had bigger things to worry about, like the fact they couldn't get in the front door.
"Dang…" Leo muttered. He looked at Tabitha who looked just as amazed. "I wish those mutants were on our side."
Then it clicked. They were from the Haven. Leo gulped, he knew that he'd just keep running into them. He could even see Sionnach on the other side of the two girls.
"Man, oh man." He grumbled. He shook his head and decided not to care what happened. He stepped out of the car.
"Leo what are you—" Tabitha never finished.
Leo roared, shifting and charged at the sonic force field.
"Oh gods, let him through!" Portal said to Fenris. The wolf halted her noise for a split second as Leo raced by then started again.
The lion didn't even really realize what happened. He remembered a feeling like this during a Danger Room session… the capture the flag. He didn't care, or at least the animal didn't. He clambered through the door and followed the mental map Benj had sent him. He barreled down the metal stairs and into the room below with cold amber eyes.
A few minutes before…
Spades pressed his skin against the metal hanger door and released all the heat he had collected inside of him. The door slowly melted, a good sized hole of molten metal left behind. He turned to Clay who nodded. The two walked in carefully.
Immediately metal coils wrapped around them and pressed them to the wall. Unlike the thin cords that held Benj, these were easily eighteen inches in diameter and ended in claw like spikes that separated and pinned the mutants.
"Ty?" Benj gasped.
Clay struggled beneath hers. She could easily escape, but then she saw the more she moved, the more tightly the cords around the blonde mutant who hung in the middle of the room got, and the harder the coil pressed on Tyler. She grumbled to herself, stopping her movement.
"Very good." Magneto mused. "You not only defeated my Brotherhood, but your team mates are now holding their own against the X-Men. I am impressed."
"Somehow I doubt that, Magneto." Clay spat her eyes glowing dangerously.
The man sighed. "Why so little faith Clay Dune?"
She growled. "If it was just you and me in here, your head would be off."
He chuckled. "I have a feeling you're here for the same reasons I am."
"I'm here for him." She gestured with her head at Benj.
Benj's eyes opened incredibly wide. He started paying more attention. Although he was completely exhausted he began mustering up all the strength he could.
"Why is everyone so interested with me?" He asked. The two mutant leaders looked at him, like they didn't realize he was there.
Magneto spread his arms wide. "I am only interested in what's best for you."
Benj snorted, turning his head a little against the cord. "Right… What's your excuse?" He asked of Clay.
Clay ducked out of the metal coil holding her to the wall. She walked around so she was directly in front of Benj, who looked down on her with suspicion. She met his eyes.
"I won't lie to you here Benj." Clay said, her voice taking on a brutally honest monotone. "Your future is of particular interest to me. I won't lie to you that the Brotherhood holds no promise for you, because it does. Choosing them would lead to you becoming a great and powerful mutant, but at a cost you probably aren't willing to make at this time."
"She is lying to you Turbulence. There is no cost here. With us you will become a symbol of power and mutant superiority!" Magneto argued.
"But that's not what you want now, is it?" the gray-skinned mutant asked. "You aren't interested in power and glory." She paused and looked at Spades. "I will make this invitation out to you too."
She unsheathed her sword and glanced at Magneto, who was merely observing.
"How can I get you gone, bucket head?"
He smirked. "this is my house. I will not simply disappear because you asked me to." He extended his hand and called down more wires.
They wrapped themselves around Clay, only to have her remold her body out of them.
"Nice try… my turn!"
Clay raised her right arm and opened her hand at Magneto. A substance matching her sin tone of unmolded clay shot out of her hand and hit Magneto square in the chest. He was knocked back into the computer monitors where the clay spread and hardened, encasing most of his body, and limbs.
"You think this will hold me!" He yelled.
"Actually, no… but it will keep you from listening and interfering." She replied, blasting more clay at him, this time covering his head. "It won't hold him for long, so I'll make this fast." She turned to Spades. Raising her sword she sliced through the coil that held him. He shoved the remainder off and rubbed his shoulder.
"Thanks."
She nodded and went back over to Benj. "Get in front of him Spades, be ready to catch him. Benj, lean forward so you don't fall on me."
Spades shook off the weird feeling he got from the fact Clay knew their names and moved in front of Benj.
Clay whirled her sword around and cut through the wires with ease.
The skater fell forward and hit Spades, who just barely caught him. Benj struggled to stand and found it odd that no heat emanated from Ty's skin, but he figured that's what happens when you melt through a solid metal door.
"Now… what was that you wanted to offer us?" Benj gasped out, leaning on Ty to try and stand up. He frowned slightly. "Weren't you there when—"
Suddenly there was a crashing noise and Leo came roaring in. Although the animal had been in control moments before, the cold glare faded from his eyes when he saw his brothers and Clay.
"…Grrr?" He stared in confusion and shifted back to human. "I am so confused right now… Clay… Benj, Ty?"
Clay smiled behind her mask. "Nice to see you again, Leo."
Benj looked from Leo who looked utterly dumbstruck, to Clay whose expression was impossible to read behind her tan cloth mask.
"Do you two… know each other? Wait… I mean I know we saw her first at the recruitment of that Sionnach guy, but how does she know your name?"
Ty scoffed. "How does she know any of our names. Answers. Now."
She looked around at all of the brothers. "Hear me out, all of your futures are intertwined with that of the Haven. I think you would fit straight in there."
"The... Haven?" Benj asked.
"Yes, that's where Sionnach went. That's where I live. It's a safe haven of sorts for mutants who've gotten themselves into some trouble, I came to Leo a few weeks ago when he ran."
"I wasn't ready to go then…" Leo said. "But now…"
"You can't be serious!" Benj shouted. "Bro, you can't just… what about the X-Men?"
"Half of them barely trust me now! It's hard to function in a place where people look at you for your past." Leo yelled back.
Clay interrupted. "Benj, this invitation is to all of you. The Haven is about new beginnings, starting fresh. You want to be a leader, don't you Benj. That's what we need." She paused. "Even better, there's no strings attached. You don't wanna, then don't… we'll keep runnin' into each other, but I will lay off."
The brothers looked at each other. So far, no one could see a huge downside, except having to leave their friends at the Institute behind.
"What about school, and… will we still see the X-Men?" Benj asked. His mind wondered to Rogue. After working so hard, he couldn't leave her behind. He stood up completely, his legs finally not feeling so much like Jell-O.
Clay smirked. "I go to your school now, so all that? Yep."
Benj closed his eyes and thought about it. He would probably get farther with the Haven then with the X-Men. He thought about the same things that passed through his mind when Magneto offered him a slot in the Brotherhood ranks. How hypocritical would he be willing to be? Completely? His loyality was to the X-Men, but everything both these mutants so interested in him said was true. And if Clay said his future was intertwined regardless, why try to fight it?
Leo was ready this time. He no longer felt at home at the mansion, although he couldn't bear to leave Tabitha and Amara (who were quickly becoming his best friends), Jamie (who was like his little brother he would do anything for), or Logan… the only one who saw things the way he did. Things were beyond promising for him at the Haven, but he needed to wait for the right time.
The oldest of the Dyson brothers was along the same lines as the other two.
Ty glanced at his brothers. He sighed. "Listen Clay. I think I speak for all of us when I say this: We would love to join you at the Haven but… This just isn't the time. If we went with you now we would be considered traitors, and that's not what we are. Perhaps another time… especially if we could just nonchalantly sneak away, but that probably won't happen. We're flattered, but not now." He finished.
"I get it." Clay said nodding. She unclipped two more communicators from her waist belt. "Here," she said tossing them to Ty and Benj. "These are Haven communicators—"
"Dude! The Death Star!" Benj cheered.
The Haven mutant smirked. "Yep, red button if you are in trouble. I'll be there."
She tilted her head like she was listening to something.
Leo's tiny ears twitched. He heard Logan's growl from outside. He thought back to the mutants holding the door. If they were Clay's team she wouldn't hesitate to leave.
The girl's eyes glowed bright. "Looks like times up, again guys… that communicator, if you need anything."
"Of course." Leo said, bowing and smiling.
"Aw shut up fuzzball." She grumbled, ruffling his hair as she ran by. "Remember, it's your choice. The X-Men will only satisfy you for so long!"
As she dashed up the stairs, Magneto's temporary prison started to crack and crumble.
Leo glanced at his brothers. "Let's get out of here."
Portal dropped her arms and gasped. "I gotta stop. Anymore and we can't get home."
Sionnach growled and looked up at the two girls. "Cloak's not improving, we need to leave."
They looked up to see Wolverine charging at the force field Fenris was just barely keeping intact. Portal had been counting the seconds, she needed to breathe.
"Drop the force field and scatter." Portal commanded, taking charge. "They won't hit a man who's down so leave Ri-Cloak there."
"No way, I'm standin' by him." Sionnach growled, standing. Grimacing he went into his Kitsune morph.
Fenris stopped the eerie noise and sucked in a breath. The force field collapsed. Portal wasn't able to jump out of the way in time before Wolverine's hand was grasping her throat.
Wolverine snarled. Fenris and Kitsune froze. Logan backed up, dragging Portal along with him. He got to what was kinda "X-Men territory" and stopped, holding his claws up to the girl's throat.
"Now let's make this quick, and easy." He said calmly. "What are you doin' here and where's Benj?"
Portal snorted. "You think we had something to do with that? Ha!"
"Well, let's answer the man." A voice said from within the front doorway. Clay stepped forward and hefted her sword onto her shoulder. "Get away from her Wolverine." Her tone grew dark.
Logan released her and pointed his claws at the new arrival. "Clay Dune, it's been too long."
"Likewise." She didn't move a muscle, but her eyes narrowed. Portal ran behind her and waited for her signal.
Leo, Benj, and Ty ran through the door then and sprinted over to where clearly there was a line between Xavier's bunch (with added Lance and Blob), and Clay's squad.
Blob advanced on the Haven mutants. "Alright, now we crush them!"
"Blob, wait!" Cyclops tried yelling.
The huge mutant ignored him and ran straight at Clay. The smaller mutant ducked out of the way and swung her sword at his ankle. He fell forward at the explosion of pain in his ankle from a deep cut. With his face plant he ended up eating a good deal of dirt.
"Argh!" He yelled, cradling his leg.
Clay looked indifferent and turned back to Wolverine. "You got something to say, or can we leave?"
Xavier rolled his wheelchair forward and faced the girl. "What exactly have you been up to?"
"The Haven took particular interest in the safety of Benjamin Dents." She replied. "You're welcome."
"Benj." Both he and Rogue said automatically. They looked at each other and smiled.
"CLAY DUNE!"
Everyone looked to the door again as Magneto came tearing out of it. He levitated to where he was right on the imaginary separation between X-Men and Haven. He was angry.
"How dare you interfere with my business!" He glared at Clay. "And to think, I believed you would see things our way."
"You kidnapped an X-Man, bub" Logan growled, extending his claws again. "You're lucky we aren't rippin' you apart."
"As if you could." Magneto waved the threat off. "This is none of your concern Wolverine. Nor yours Xavier. Now, Benj, your choice."
Benj cringed as all eyes turned to him. He got a little distracted by the crying Blob on the ground, but then he faced Magneto.
"I'm gonna have to say no. I'm with the X-Men, and for the moment there is nothing you can do to stop that." The skater said, expressing half of his choice. The other half was that he would eventually join the Haven, but that was of no one's concern.
Magneto narrowed his eyes, but didn't attack. "Fine, just know you've made the worse choice."
"Clay." Sionnach whispered. When she turned he pointed at Cloak urgently.
"Portal, now!" Clay shouted.
The girl spread her arms wide and the squad jumped through.
Clay was the second to last one through, at which point Magneto spoke. "I know who you are Clay Dune. You cannot keep hiding from me."
"Watch me Magneto."
Beast bound the wounds on Benj's wrist with a practiced hand.
"You know, I think I see you in here too much." Beast laughed. He tied off the bandage he was working on and Benj groaned.
"I wish I wasn't here all the time." Benj said, rubbing his wrists.
Beast laughed again. "Let's take a look at your neck. Yep, those are some nasty bruises, you're lucky you didn't slit your neck as well."
Benj nodded. He looked over to the other bed in the infirmary. Jamie laid there unconscious with his head bound tightly.
"Is he goin' to be okay?" He asked softly. Leo sat by Jamie's side, dozing in the chair.
"I…" Beast frowned. "I think he will… but he's done some serious damage to his head."
"I wish we had a healer here." Benj grumbled.
"All of us do." Hank said, walking away. "Oh, and by the way, Vince is here to make sure you're not dead… again."
Benj smiled. "Yeah, he thinks I do that a lot." His grin grew wider as he witnessed the boy running through the hall outside.
"I SWEAR! AWW MAN!"
Benj laughed and walked out to meet him. "Vince, calm down."
"BENJ! YOU AIN'T DEAD!" Vince's scratchy voice shouted. He ran over and picked him up. "Stop trying to die man!" He said, thumping Benj back down. "Don't leave me here alone again… I swear, Ray's gonna kill me."
"Well you did steal his girlfriend." Benj muttered.
"Well… I… uh… you know… maybe it is my fault." Vince said. "Listen, I'm gonna head home. You," he jabbed his finger into Benj's chest, "should try not to die until Monday. See ya later." He turned then froze. "You know, I just realized I have no clue where I'm goin'."
There's His Choice. Hope it was... well what you might have wanted. I'm not ready for Benj, Leo, and Ty to meld into the Haven because there's a pretty big event I gotta have happen first.
Now update on Haven Origins: I will probably have the prologue up by tomorrow. Then it will be Knife/Zendi Idnez first followed by Fenris/Rena. I'M SO EXCITED! If either of those two are your OCs expect certain PMs from me with questions and expansions. If you think of anything important you think I should know, don't hesitate.
Favorite line: "WAHOO!"... oh Tabitha.