Fallenreaper

Create-A-Hero: A Superhero RPG Season 3- Shattered Dimensions

Character you have created: Benjamin Ethan Reeves
Alias: These are usually given by others.
School: Spoiled Rich Brat, Ben
While in werewolf form: Mutt, Huge Ass Dog, Stray, and a few other choices and lame namesakes thanks to the ignorant
people of New York’s lesser educated.
Speech Color (Actually say what you're using): Chocolate
Character Alignment: Hero
Identity: Secret
Character Personality:

Benjamin’s personality is what someone would call a true Aries as he displays both the bad and good qualities that make up the zodiac sign. If anyone was a literal definition of the sign, it would be him.

To those he’s attached and chosen to become friends with, they will see his generous and enthusiastic nature. His optimism in a negative situation or setback is often shining bright even if it's not in the expected or chipper tone most people use. In addition to this, he’s got an independent streak when it comes to getting things done and when he wants to, finding excitement in seeing the completing of goals rather than meeting the end results. This often leaves him jumping from one project to another due to his impulsive nature, especially if the task shows little to no progress when it comes to feeding his satisfaction. It’s during that sensation that he’s most likely to drop it complete unless someone can redirect his attention and spark interest again.

When he is forced into a situation where he feels trapped or stuck, Ben becomes moody and short-tempered. His attitude often venting out on whoever, and sometimes whatever, is nearby. If it is built up longer enough, he has a habit of becoming violent on instinctive causing him to lash out should someone attempt to comfort him with touch. Often his words in these moments aren’t clearly thought out or the consequences considered, creating guilt and regret when Ben recalls these moments and especially when he’s reminded of them. Only his few true friends can understand and look pass these eruptive moments to stick him by.

Underneath the hard earned image he has chiseled out for himself, lays a heart that holds great courage. This bravery also feeds his impulsive nature and passion in what he does. That one trait can hurt him because he easily can become derailed from his goal or aid him in spur of the moment decisions, usually helping him to get over unexpected road bumps coming his way. His passion carries him through challenges to get things done, usually with the aim of completing them quickly as possible.

As mentioned before, he does have a generous nature. However, it can and most the time does include himself when it comes to the thought. It’s an ingrain habit that he usually thinks about his friend’s influences on him, his happiness and in what ways. When a problem arises connected to them in any form, he’ll usually push to confront them or make his attempt to solve the issue behind their back. Either way, he doesn’t come off well and it often ends up in an aggressive and moody fight, one that will test or break his friendships.

Uniform/costume:

Hider

_{Special thanks to both Vatrou for the birthday commission and for Splatpixel on doing such a wonderful job on him.}

The bad thing about being a werewolf is when he shifts. It tends to shred everything. That makes it pretty much impossible to wear any attire when Benjamin goes completely wolf as the thing ends up becoming nothing more than rags at the end of the day. Nothing he has tried has shown to be able to conform and meld with his physical shape, not even the fashion retardness of spandex.

So, he has decided it was just better to go all wolf and use that to hide his identity. Most people would assume he was stray canine if they ever saw him, despite his much larger size when hunched down on all fours.

When fully wolfed out, Benjamin's height grows to about 6’2” giving him a looming appearance against the average man. His natural fur is a tarnish blonde with a white underbelly, under jaw, chest, and lower limbs. For most people, when he’s hunched down on all four, he looks like a rather large dog. He reaches about the waist of the average man in this position.

Like many newly turned werewolves, his eyes are an almost electrical blue and in the following months will edge to a golden yellow. Black outlines his wolfen eyes and give off an almost human sensation to them. His hand are a cross between human and wolf, there being four finger digits and one thumb with thick pads on the inside hand. There’s two sets along the finger digits, one on the thumb tip and about three on the main hand.

Origin Info/Details:

Profile/Bio

Race: Caucasian
Sex: Male
Age: 16
HT: 5’6”
WT: 159 lbs.
EY: Gunsmoke Hazel
HR: Dirty Blonde, short and wavy.
SK: White
Ethnicity: None
Vision: 20/20
DoB: Mar 31 (Aries)

Birth Order: Single child

Bio

Benjamin, or Ben as he’s often called by his peers, is the iconic rich boy. The boy with money, good looks and almost everything any teenager could ever want. When the public, from the media to his school mates, look at him they see a kid that never had to work a hard day in his life to earn what he wanted or felt the sense of failure gripping his soul. For the most part, they would be right. He is spoiled and has high tastes in quality and expectations, through he has known loss unlike those whose lives were completely and utterly perfect.

Being the single child of the New York District Attorney and an art director for the NYC museum for fine arts, Ben grew up in Bayside, Queens all his privileged life and goes to the private academy called McArthur Academy for Higher Education. There he was the popular kid that everyone seemed to want to be. The boy without a care or worry, ready to take risks to get what he wanted as he saw the thrill of the chase being the best part. Through this was the outside mask he often displayed to the outside world. If they would peel back the layers of his family dynamic and see the truth: the grass was rarely greener on the other side.

It was a cold, December day when the wreck happened changing his life from its near perfection to a tragic roller coaster of emotion. His grandparents on his mother’s side had come to New York to spend the holidays and to see his first piano recital, his mother driving them all -save for his father- to the school. It was terrible weather where icy winds whipped through the towering buildings and hurt visibility for most drivers. A drunk man at the wheel of a semi-truck collided head on and crushed their little car, the truck’s front literally parked on the hood where most the occupants were killed instantly. Rosalie, his mother, was the only survivor.

She was his foundation. Being the primary parent in his life, Ben was at lost for words upon seeing his mother in a death like coma shortly after the accident. So lost in his own pain, he barely recalled the press trying to push in for snapshots of him sitting, depressed and holding her lifeless hand. Or the fact his father’s hand rested on his shoulder during it. Their image was placed on the newscast for weeks that followed, the tragic story about her grief stricken husband running for the DA office and loving son Benjamin Reeves. It was a nightmare for the boy while he tolerated the interviews, lurking media and worse.

It was a month later when they finally ceased. On the second month, Daniel Reeves decided it was time to let his wife move on to greener pastures. He ordered the treatment on his wife stopped and the tubes taken out. The doctors recorded her death three hours later when they rolled her to the morgue, storing her for the funeral a week later. It was a mournful moment for Ben as he was never be allowed to say good bye, denied by his own father, still a stranger claiming to be a parent on legal paper, since he was away at school trying to learn how to move on. Any respect he held for his father was gone that day.

Barely a year passed before he watched his mother become replaced by some whorish slut named Lorrie Hart, a woman about a decade younger than his father.

At first, things were fine since his father allowed Ben his independent streak and enabled them to avoid each other most the time. In the spotlight, they had the ideal father-son relationship. What the media wouldn’t pay to discover it was all an act he often mused.

It was about two years and a month when his father finally become engaged to the Ms. Hart, though Ben suspected it was to gain a bigger political vote for his future position into the Mayor’s office. Not that it would surprise him. The moment the woman came into his father’s household, things rapidly changed. At first, her methods were subtle. She wanted to be his friend and get to know him better, his father rarely mentioned the boy to her, as she sought to be get cozy. It rubbed him wrong causing his moodiness and aggression to butt heads with her.

A week passed and she was already working on manipulating his father. His mother’s presence, her things and little trinkets that gave him comfort, were starting to be removed from the house. When she caught him trying to move his mother’s old jewelry box down into his room, Lorrie confronted him. Since then she’s stalked his movements, began to take away his freedom and gradually had him moved down into the basement where he often found she locked him in there at night.

He hasn’t any idea what she’s planning but he’s got a bad feeling about it.

Hero Type (Select one): Supernatural- American Werewolf subspecies.

Power Level (Select one below): Street/City Level

Powers (Be Specific):
Being a werewolf, Ben has two modes he can flip from at will when he learns how to. When he is completely human, he looks like a normal teenage with limited healing rate and enhanced senses. The anthro mode is described in the costume section while his human form is in the Original Details/Origins section.

Enhanced Senses

In human mode, Benjamin’s senses are the only thing that is above normal. These are the primary sense used most but not the only ones enhanced.

~Sight: Ben’s eyesight is unique mixture of human and wolf qualities, giving him the perks of both and covering each other’s weakness. From the wolf side of sight, he has have excellent day and night vision and far sharper than a human’s, enhanced by hyper sensitive to motion within the range. The distance range limit is about 1000 feet, slightly shorter than a human but his other senses quickly make up for that weakness.

~Hearing: Because Ben is a werewolf, he can hear between 25 khz to up at least 80 khz and within 6 to 10 miles depending on the geography lay out. The more crowded by objects like a city then the less miles he gains. However, due to his sensitive ears, the higher pitches like a dog whistle will distract and hurt his ears usually crippling him until the source is stop.

~Scent: Ben’s sense of scent is extremely strong compared to a human and even most canines, detailing information about an individual’s condition, their past whereabouts, gender and other needed to know information. About a hundred times stronger, in favorable conditions he can sniff out his prey about 1.75 miles from his location and stalk it a fair distance.

As the IC goes on, Ben will develop the ability to sniff out magical items, places, etc but his range doesn't change. The more powerful the effect, though he doesn't have complete details, the higher the hairs on his hunches will raise in alarm and his instincts will be wary. Ben can't stop magic, like traps, from going off but he can (when he builds it up) use it to avoid them completely.

Regeneration

Human
His healing rate is about double of his original healing, enabling him to heal in half the time it would take normal humans. However, he is unable to regenerate limbs, survive impact into the brain or any usually fatal hits.

Wolf
When in wolf form, his healing factor is about 3-4 times higher than a normal, healthy human. This enables him to take a beating that would cripple most living or kill normal beings, his body still able to move and keep fighting until his last breath. Greater the wound, the more time it takes to heal it.

• regenerate broken bones (heavy wounds)- days
• regenerate torn/severed muscles (medium wounds)- hours
• regenerate flesh wound (light wounds)-minutes/moments

Telepathy

When in wolf form, Ben has the ability to communicate to others with his mind and merely by looking at them. As long as he retains eye contact and focus on the individual he can project emotions, images (usually chaotic), and sensation of another’s presence inside the mind of the target with ease. Unless one is a wolf or is comfortable with him, they will often find this uncomfortable since the projected throughs aren’t exactly words or their own emotions. When eye contact is broken so is the link, the sensation of the telepathy fading almost instantly.

Fangs and Claws

All big, bad wolves have teeth and Ben is no exception. Unlike the traditional werewolves who have long, feline like claws made for cutting and slicing, his hand and feet paws are made more to act like track shoes giving him excellent ability to turn nearly on a dime without falling on his furry ass. When his teeth break, they can regrow much like a shark can replace his and within a short period in a fight.

Ben also has extreme pressure behind his jaws making it difficult rip him off should you let him get a grip. It’s almost supernatural in some ways when coupled with his regeneration ability it would be a challenge in getting him off.

Skills Learned
Computer Software/Hacking (adept)
Hot wiring vehicles (novice)
Parkour (novice in human form)
Lying (highly skilled)
Dirt bike/stunt ability (highly skilled)
Piano (highly skilled but rusty)

Attributes (Select one at each category):
All these are while Ben is in wolf form.

Strength Level:Without stress he can lift up to 5 tons, but pushed to the limit he can lift up to 10 though he risks snapping something.
Speed/Reaction Timing Level:

• With training speed Ben’s is about 5x faster than humans, making time slow slightly and enables quicker acknowledgement to the threats. However being able to dodge or count them is another matter. Presently, since he's untrained, his reaction is only 2x faster.
• When it comes to his speed, in a trot he can reach up to 5 mph and causally cover wide areas of ground in a single day without rest. When in a flat out run he can reach up to 25 mph, with a few bursts of 45 mph for 1-2 minutes, before he nears exhaustion and risk collapsing.

Endurance at MAXIMUM Effort:

• In a steady, easily going trot Ben can cover miles in a day’s time before he needs to rest.
• During non-stop and stressful activity, his endurance lasts about 3-4 hours without any sort of break or rest. However afterwards he will collapse from complete exhaustion and feel ravenous, reverting back to human. When full out pushing, he would last up to 2 hours.

Agility: 2x that of a normal human, usually when in a flat out run such as rushing over objects like trash cans, buildings, etc or people.
Intelligence: Smart for his age, but not a genius level individual. Underestimate him at your own peril.
Fighting Skill: Untrained

Resources:
Small

Being a kid, he’s got his own things from high tech computer to his own car (BMW 5 Series). However he doesn’t have a source of income other than what his father allows within a bank account on a weekly basis. Meaning while he has a lot of cash to burn, there’s still a limit and if he’s not careful his funds could dry up quickly forcing him to ask his father for more. A matter he rather avoid.

Weaknesses:

Being a breed of werewolf, there are ways to counter this ability. It also works in his both forms but in different ways, his human form being the most vulnerable to the substances. Strangely enough, Ben is unable to detect them with his sense of smell and it could be related to it being his breed’s weakness toward it.

• Silver: Most werewolves are allergic to silver, through fortunately for Ben’s breed isn’t not fatal on instant contact and would take large amounts to become it.
  In his human form it causes severe allergic reactions such as swelling on the location where the metal comes into contact. If injected/ingested, it could cause his throat to swell shut and breathing to be impossible unless an adrenaline is injected into his system boosting his immunity which will open his airways.
  
  In his wolf form, this can easily paralyze and slow Ben’s healing rate, but the purity of the metal determines the healing power and time it lasts. The more pure the silver is, the longer the effects last and sooner it takes effect. Pure silver can take effect within at least a minute depending on Ben’s condition.
  
  For any reason, should pure, liquified silver get into his blood system (digestion or something) when a wolf then it will paralyze Ben up to a day. Large amounts will kill him, such as a quarter of a pint or more, unless it’s purged from his system quickly and in about 3-4 hours.
• Wolfsbane- herb: A weak smelling herb that is a strong and slow poison. It’s believed to be so lethal to a werewolf that a tablespoon worth sprinkled inside a bullet and shot into the target will kill even an alpha in half a day’s time. Any smaller amount will only cripple the wolf for several days, making them helpless and feeling like they wish they were dead. It can be cured through magical/unnatural means or even when a werewolf is laid out under a full moon, allowed to undergo extreme transformation thanks to the moon’s radiation.
• Full Moon- Every American werewolf must answer the call of the moon as its radiation fills them with an immerse and sudden surge of energy, their bodies unable to contain their wolf forms while underneath its pale light. New wolves have the hardest time since their animalistic side is most frenzied and frighten during this time so many newly made wolves depend on their pack mates to keep them from injuring themselves during this period. After a few moons (6 moons), the eyes turn a yellow declaring them an adult.
  
  It’s unknown why, but when someone is bitten beneath a full moon they have a percent of becoming werewolf depending on the species of werewolf.
• New Werewolf Syndrome (NWS): When a human is turned into a werewolf, they develop something called new werewolf syndrome which happens with all newly turned. Changes are unpredictable as they aren't just affected by the moon and decision, but emotion as well. This factor is worsened by the fact all newly turned wolves became moody for about six months and will taper off when they reach adulthood.

Supporting Characters (Does your character have a significant other? A mother? Friend? Who are they, what do they have to do with your character?):

Family (intermediate):

Alive

Daniel Reeves-35……...Father

Job: DA of New York, recently elected.
Relationship Strength: Weak father and son bond, Ben obeys him to the barest degree only because his mother wanted him to respect the man.

Lorrie Hart (Scorpio)-26……...Stepmother to be

Job: Trophy Wife
Relationship Strength: Weak, Ben actually hates her due to her manipulative and controlling behavior.

Deceased

Anthony Reeves-56……...Grandfather
Sophia Reeves(surname: Morris)-59……...Grandmother
Rosalie Reeves (surname Snyder)-32……...Mother

Additional details: Mother was in a coma for about a week, then taken off where she died about five hours later. It was a slim chance she would’ve made it without any permanent brain damage or would’ve been the same before the accident so Benjamin's father believed this was a mercy for his wife’s spirit. However, Benjamin secretly blames himself for her death and has bitterness toward his father for allowing her to be taken off the machines without his knowledge, denying him his last goodbye.

Friends

Benjamin doesn’t have any close friends, their only reasons to associate with him are self-gain and manipulation reasons. Usually, because their parents are hoping to have an excuse to get close to his father. Little do the ‘click’ he usually hangs around with knowledge, he’s actually using them so he’s not lonely.

Desmond Hargraves - Closest to a best friend, his father is an assistant attorney working with Ben’s dad.
Alyssa Kinser- Roland’s girlfriend and a rather prissy sob, her mother owns numbers of shares in companies like Midas Industries and other organizations. Ben hates her guts and the feeling is mutual.
Nathan Giavonna & Bradley Giavonna- The swim team twins and part of his click, though they are more numbskulls than any interesting company.
Emma Gracia- House Keeper.

Athena- Childhood best friend who is a famous popstar. He's learned she now can preform magic thanks to a mysterious fey ruler called Morrigan.

Create-A-Hero: A Superhero RPG Season 2- New Horizons (Closed)

(removed)

Create-A-Hero: A Superhero RPG Season 2- New Horizons (Closed)

(removed)

Chrono Asylum: Prelude to Madness

---

Like most Asylums, Samad and Elsa were well-trained killers. They rarely let their guard down even in a place of safety so few things caught them by surprise. Especially within Innocence.

The moment Geko went flying back from a drop-kick to the face and flew to the far wall, Samad’s arm lowered to his waist. His fingers gripped his blade while he stopped in place. In his mind, he could sense Elsa preparing her alchemy drive followed by his own.

Though the students rushed the asylums with trained precision and skill, they didn’t have the experience. A weakness he aimed at exploiting to its fullest. He would drive his point home, even if a few went into the hospital for a few weeks.

Samad, go easy on them. They are too young to understand.

Samad rolled his eyes, multitasking as he mentally answered her.

Are you more worried about the students or that I’ll be punished for breaking AMRO’s property?

Both. Elsa answered in a smug fashion.

It didn’t take long for him to complete his spoken spell causing the lightning and fire spells shot at him to slow down. His eyes monitored their closeness while jittery energy surged through him. Knowing the attacks would still hit, he immediately glanced back to Elsa. He divided the speed between himself and Elsa. She never fought him when he used his alchemy drive because she trusted him. The reality of their bond in mind, she took his gift.

His right leg moved back causing him to zoom back several feet outside the attack range. Elsa managed to follow him and stood nearby, her arrow notched to her bow. When they heard the thump of the students enter the impact zone, Elsa’s sharpshooter skills allowed her to aim for the location Samad had been moments before. It shattered onto the ground causing ice to rapidly spread across it. Any individual within the area effect would find their legs fastened with large blocks of ice before the smoke cleared.

Chrono Asylum: Prelude to Madness

Elsa kept her expression serious, but relaxed. She saw no reason to present herself to be an asshole. Samad got under some Asylum’s easily enough, and she refused to add to those issues. She listened to Tabion’s little ‘welcome’ speech while she summarized his personality pretty easily.

Authority immediately sprung to the front of the list. Thankfully he hadn’t been the first of his kind in her life, and she knew how to handle them. Especially when they held their duty too close to their chest.

At the mention of being a mentor, her green eyes shifted to her partner. Samad stood there like a statue made from blood and flesh. Little surprise, she let the thought pass over to her partner who knew what she meant.

You know I can hear your thoughts, ḥamal ṣaġīr (little lamb)?

Elsa just gave him a subtle smile. Of course, she knew. She didn’t even let his little pet name for her get under her skin. They locked eyes for several moments before Samad gave a mental sighed.

Their conversation was interrupted when they felt Tabion’s eyes on them. In unison, their attention shifted back and spotted his nod toward them. It wouldn’t have surprised the pair if he could see into the silent conversation between them. Thankfully, the man decided he had better things to address than a pair of distracted Asylums.

Samad frowned when he noticed Geko. The rumors edged into his mind over the grade-A pervert causing Elsa to give him a scrutinizing look. His eyes darted back to her followed with a telepathic question.

What?

Snap judgment much? Elsa retorted, her hands placed on her hips and faced him.

Samad sighed. Let me get the keys, kay? Last thing I need is forcing myself to behave and you forced to smooth things over.

You do realize, he tries anything unreasonable I’ll use my charm to get out of it? Her lips curled into a knowing smirk.

Is that what you call kicking someone-

Elsa immediately kicked his shin side, but Samad merely chuckled. It proved his point well enough. Besides, his partner didn’t put her full force or any malice into the action. Annoy as she was, she never hurt someone over the petty things. Letting her weak efforts roll off his back, he dropped his arms and walked to Geko and two other asylums addressing him. Meanwhile, Elsa held back to observe how the situation would play out.

X-Men: The New Era - Avalon Rising

ᴠᴇʀᴏɴɪᴄᴀ "ʀᴏɴɴɪᴇ" ᴍᴀʟᴄᴏʟᴍ

---

_{Saturday, October | Danger Room}

Ronnie’s attention twisted to Heidi then Uná. Anger and bitterness burned underneath her eyes. Her teeth gritted underneath her lips until a numbness etched across the muscles. The time to walk away had already left, but that little fact seemed to escape the two. In any other situation, she wouldn’t have bothered with any of them. They were social cripples in her eyes.

She went to open her mouth and reply when several things happened at once. Cleo had come bursting in through the door, ranting and raving about Uná staying away from her. Followed by a doppelganger. Ronnie barely had time to do a double-take before another student’s powers went off. Daniela shouted then twin streams rose to the roof. They struck and fizzled out into a harmless rain of sparks.

Ronnie’s arms instinctively shielded her face. She ducked her body down, worried the building had a short in it. When the student spoke again, her arms lowered and she shot a look at Daniela. This whole fucking school…

The more she spent time here, the worst things got. She doubted that would change.

Before another word could escape her lips, another student stepped in. She had seen him lurking against the wall like a few of the others, but paid him little mind.

After the two boys spoke, Ronnie decided she had it with this fucked up circus show. Any information, little as it had been, was all she would get from them. The realization just increased her frustration at the situation.

“I do know pieces of this fucked up puzzle are missing and these people,” Ronnie pointed to those who Uná revealed to be involved. “Dragged all those here who didn’t go, into their bullshit. And at least one is trying to claim we can walk away but… I doubt that. I wasn’t even here until today and I still got pulled in it without knowing anything.”

She tugged up her purse strap and pushed past the collection, making her way to the door.

“Also one last thing. Just because some of you didn’t think your lives are worth going back to, doesn’t mine wasn’t.” Ronnie snapped then left.

She washed her hands of this group. They weren’t going to help her find answers or even care about their actions affecting others. In the end, Ronnie started to believe her mother was right. The only one you can trust is yourself.

Chrono Asylum: Prelude to Madness

I'm super rusty <.<

But it shall be up soon! :P

@xodus

Promises, promises. You know I'm just teasing ya. :p

Chrono Asylum: Prelude to Madness

ACCEPTED

Now we are officially ready to begin. The IC should be up soon!

@xodus

He says a day ago. :P

Create-A-Hero: A Superhero RPG Season 2- New Horizons (Closed)

MISADVENTURES

&

L O C A T I O N: Somewhere in New York City
T I M E: Present Day ( July ) Sometime Around 10 AM

---

Benjamin led the way down the street. His feet thumped the pavement as cars drove past, the drivers' eyes barely sparing the pair a glance. Trees expanded across the neighbor's yards breaking up the blandness of the concrete. All the houses had similar, or identical, architecture interwoven into their designs. Each one still held its own identity.

He took a sharp turn onto the worn road leading to the old Benson's place. The place they crossed paths with last night. Benjamin's eyes widened when he spotted the moving van parked outside. About four men were hauling out anything from dressers to couches through the door. Benjamin cast a worry glance at Athena as they continued onward, not straying too close to the place. A nearby grey Subaru Forester rolled into the driveway and ground to a stop. A small family of four began to exit including twin boys.

"We need to head home, now," Benjamin stated.

He quickly backtracked farther down the street and onto a side alley, heading to his house.

After exchanging a worried glance in Benjamin's direction and a quick nod of agreement, they ran back home. Much of her earlier coldness had dissipated with only a few of its residue still in her system that she knew tea would fix with no problem. Still, she cast another look back at the family moving into the house with trepidation.

They ran back home and quickly thanked Emma for lunch as they took their food upstairs. Athena finished the lunch and then swiftly hopped into the shower. Only when she's finished with her shower and her routine, she returns to the loft, still drying her hair with a towel.

"I guess you'll be heading out to investigate the house later?"

Benjamin held his cellphone to his ear. He silenced her with a finger as he continued his conversation, Duff on the other end. He continued to pace while he held the one-sided conversation.

"Yeah, I'm still here. Sorry, Athena walked out of the shower and distracted me."

Donned now only torn jean shorts sitting at her hips and a loose grey baggy shirt with short sleeves, one corner of her shirt tucked into her shorts. Her long hair was quickly drying but her towel continued to dry her hair. Athena sat down on the sofa as she waited for him to finish the phone call.

He paused, listening to Duff's gruff voice before he continued.

"Anyways, there's an old house in my neighbor. I never paid it much mind... until now. Athena and I were walking home in the evening when we both sensed something. I saw a dark, shrouded figure in the window. A child, I think. Athena sensed something dark and wrong within the house."

Benjamin waited for a reply.

"No shit, that's why I want you to come over and we can check it out. If something is in my territory, I want it out now."

Nodding, he finally ended the conversation.

"Kay, I will see you shortly." He hung up and set his phone down, turning to Athena.

A reassuring smirk crossed his lips, answering her earlier question.

"Duff is coming over in an hour or two. So do you need anything before we get ready to go?"

With the towel still loosely hanging around her neck, with most of her hair now more dry than damp, she lightly shrugged. Leaning forward on her knees, she tucked her chin into her hand with her elbow on her knee and regarded him with a contemplative look. "I'll need to have a cup of tea, but otherwise, not really?" She hummed thoughtfully.

She stood back up, moving toward the book she received from Morrigan. Opening it and skimming through it gave her an idea of what she ought to be looking for, but without more information, her idea of what the entity was limited. Athena closed it again to lean against the table where she had set the book to continue drying her hair and look in Benjamin's direction.

"I'm prepared this time, so, we'll wing it," Athena said, hoping for the best.

"You sure about that?" Benjamin looked uncomfortable at the suggestion.

He looked to his window and sorted his thoughts, considering how to best phrase it. His hand rubbed his neck a few times before just uttering the words in his head, in a blunt fashion.

"Duff's and my experiences with winging it, usually end in destruction. I don't want you to get hurt." Benjamin chanced a glance at her to observe her reaction.

She waited for a beat, observing Benjamin with an unwavering look. "The best we can do is investigate the house and try to find out what the entity is," Athena said with the slight tilt of her head. Her hands stilled the towel.

A gleam flickered in her eyes, looking away, and she flashed a derisive smile. "I won't get hurt, I don't think that's something you ought to worry too much about." Righting herself to continue drying her hair, she moved toward the bathroom as she continued with the planning.

"Well, how about we go in, and just try and find out where the source is? And if things go wrong, we get out."

Benjamin continued to watch her until she looked away. He chewed the inside of his mouth a moment as he brushed his lower face. The boy paced a short distance from his sofa to the wall and back again, debating on his part in the conversation. He knew that look.

"I disagree, nothing ever works out that easy." He paused to face her retreating back.

"Duff and I have regeneration abilities. What abilities do you have?"

Popping into the bathroom and quickly finishing the remainder of her after-care shower routine, her hair was pulled into a single braid down her back and walked back toward Benjamin.

"A multitude of them," she said thoughtfully. "Like you, I can regenerate, but it's circumstantial and I can see energy. Which, now that I say that aloud, sounds weird, so it's definitely something you have to see to understand." Athena sounded sheepish. "Otherwise, I don't have anything in the way of combative abilities so I can't help you in a fight, unfortunately."

"Which is likely to happen. We don't know how violent this spirit-or whatever it is- might be. Do you have any way to keep it from messing with you?" Benjamin asked when she finally came out of the bathroom.

His arms crossed over his chest as he prepared to stand his ground. He stared at her with a hard edge to his expression and patiently waited for her reassurances. Watered down or not.

Athena didn't seem bothered by the hard edge in his gaze as she continued to think. "I should be fine—it won't get to mess with me like last time since I was caught off-guard," she said with a hand on her chin in thought. "I'll have to see if I can mess with it instead, if I have to."

Benjamin could tell his attempt to be intimating failed with Athena. Forced to admit he lost the battle, it chaffed his pride and irritated his protective wolf. He snorted then glanced at the nearest clock. As he suspected, barely a few minutes had passed since they started this conversation.

"Fine. Just promise me, if things start looking really bad then you leave. I don't want to see you hurt." His voice held some pain when he considered the possibility.

Athena looked up, breaking her musings at the possible defenses she could use to combat the entity. Walking over until she stood just an arms' length from him, she reached over and tapped his arm.

"Hey, I'll be okay, Benjamin," she reassured with a smile, her voice soothing. "If anything happens, I'll leave, but I won't leave you behind if I can help it. You and Duff, okay?"

"All right. We got some time to kill." He turned away and walked to the sofa, picking up a controller.

"Want to play something while we wait?" Benjamin gave a softer smile that filled with warmth.

Nodding, she grinned. "Yeah, let me grab some tea and then I'll be down to kick your butt," she said with a confident smirk.

~|~

The hours flew by faster than Athena and Benjamin expected before Duff arrived. Emma climbed the stairs with the gruff older wolf in tow. She knocked on the door before Benjamin rose from his seat, placing the game on pause, then opened it. He gave a smile and thanked Emma, gesturing for his 'uncle' to enter.

With bushy, salt, and pepper eyebrows, Duff looked Athena up then down. Despite the meeting with Barron yesterday, the wolf still clung to his caution.

"All right, so what's the plan with this thing in your territory?" He grouched and he took a seat on a nearby chair.

Benjamin inhaled then looked at Athena. He hoped she might explain better about what she sensed than he could.

Athena set the controller down on the coffee table and regarded both wolves with a subtle lift of her brow. Crossing her arms, she glanced at Benjamin once more as he looked to her.

"The plan is for us to go in and find out what exactly this entity is and then come up with a plan to get it out after we have more information," Athena explained. "Call it a scouting or a reconnaissance mission, and try not to engage more than necessary. Then we'll regroup outside. Clear?"

Duff huffed under his breath then asked another question. "What exactly are we looking for? I'm assuming you're going to try to identify this thing."

Her brows furrowed in thought. "We'll use a black light to find traces of the ritual or whatever may have summoned the creature, if it was summoned. To be honest, I'm not too sure of what we are looking for, considering we saw it at a glance, at a distance." Humming aloud her thoughts, she continued, lifting her gaze to the older wolf. "That's what this mission is for—reconnaissance."

Duff stiffened, then forced himself to relax. "Can we set a time limit because I rather not provoke it any more than we need to. I've dealt with a poltergeist before and the longer I stuck around, the angrier it got. I rather not have knives stabbed into my head."

Athena nodded, agreeing. "It's day time, but I think we should limit it to about two hours, at most. Sounds good?"

Benjamin took this opportunity to interrupt Athena's next reply. He stepped toward Duff causing the elder wolf's head to dart into his direction. Though Benjamin hadn't done much, a small and subtle language played out. One between an Alpha and his Beta.

"Well, we can pass ourselves off as stray dogs if we need to. I'm not sure if Athena has a few spells up her sleeve?" His eyes looked back at her, checking to see if she had any better ideas.

Duff scoffed. “Have you seen us in wolf form? That’s as ideal as trying to pass off a bear as a throw rug.”

Athena tapped a finger to her chin in thought. "If it comes to passing off as something, I could probably make you appear more like a dog, if you want that, and I can make myself appear invisible and make both of you also invisible if you wanted that," she said without waiting a beat, immediately after Duff's remark. "It won't last long, but it'll be long enough for what we have to do."

Benjamin bit his lip. “I don’t have much information about the family that moved in. I don’t know if they are dog lovers or what. We could try a few different approaches.”

He paused long enough to grab his soda and down a drink before continuing.

“First, as much as I hate taking the risk, we can observe the family’s routine. The kid might be less willing to chase off a ‘lost’ dog than the parent might be. If we can get in, we can guard the family and search the house while looking normal.” Benjamin noted as he continued to weigh the idea in his head.

“It at least allows us to get a more clear idea of their daily routine.” He looked at the other two to see if they objected to his idea, deciding to move on when they didn’t.

“Athena, it might be a good idea to alter Duff’s or my werewolf appearance to be more mutt-like. We are considered really large ‘dogs’ and there’s some unnaturalness to our anatomy on close inspection. If this doesn’t work, we can come up with a plan B. Maybe becoming friends with the kid?”

Duff spoke up. “I’m not wearing a collar or getting chipped.”

Athena seemed amused as she glanced in Duff's direction, but nodded.

Benjamin sighed, frowning, before making the choice for them all. “Then I will. Athena can be the owner since it looked like the kid was around our age. That means we need to head to the nearest Wal-mart to print out a tag and buy some supplies.”

And Athena nodded again. "Sounds good. Let's get going and start this, shall we?"

“We should consider plan B first before heading out and get our story straight when or if the kid starts to investigate. I don’t want to underestimate him and have this thing blow up in our faces.” Benjamin noted as he considered a quick cover story.

“Athena, do you have an address registered in your name?”

Athena hummed. "I do not, unfortunately, since I'm still a minor. Everything is under my dad's name or my company's name. Probably best if we play it where I'm on vacation, hence an address I could use." Chewing her bottom lip, she tilted her head and crossed her arms across her chest.

“That’s what I was thinking. The tag still needs a valid address or the moment they don’t see one, they might suspect things are off. I just didn’t want your actual name connected with your profession. Last we need is a fan stalking you again.”

Athena shuddered at the thought. "We can use my company's public address, since, it would mean you do belong to me, but can be technically vetted through my company. Instead of their phone number, we can use Duff's on the dog tag so that when they call, Duff picks up the phone instead."

Duff rolled his eyes at the mention of Benjamin belonging to her. “I do sound the oldest so it makes sense. Just don’t let her tug you around too much, Benjamin.”

The popstar lifted a brow in Duff's direction before looking in Benjamin's. Her arched brow remained as she looked on curiously. "Tugging?" She blinked. "Do you want to be tugged on with the collar and leash on?" And then lightly frowned in confusion.

For a moment, Benjamin didn’t know what to say. His inner smartass wanted to make a comment, but he knew it might’ve been taken the wrong way. Duff managed to save Benjamin from incriminating himself.

“Please, can we just cover plan B? The scent is overwhelming at this point and I’m feeling nauseous now.”

Athena's confusion was apparent, but said nothing and glanced between the two males.

“Duff, that’s enough. But you are right, we need to consider plan B.”

“What happens if the kid calls the pound?”

“That’s why I suggested a lost dog instead of a stray. I'd rather not be chased by the local animal control and worst case scenario, even if they do pick me up, at least, they'll have a number to call.”

“I hope they don't decide to spay you while you’re there.”

Athena winced.

“Moving on.” Benjamin snapped as he ignored that statement, mainly for his own comfort.

“If I’m chased away, we have Athena come to the house looking for her ‘dog’. Maybe coaxing the kid into helping by placing up posters or just walking around the neighborhood.”

Athena merely nodded again, lifting a hand to her temple as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other. "At the very least, it'll give me an opportunity to talk to them and go from there. The conversation can go either way, but I'd like a few pictures of you and me for reference so they can see it instead of just using a lost poster. That way I can show it to them on my phone."

And then she winced again. "How much evidence did we want to provide, at this point?" She shook her head. "If I'm a doggie parent, wouldn't I have, uh, what, loads of pictures of my dog on my phone?"

“Depends on your storage and if your phone has been replaced. I know a kid at school that has only a few pictures of his dog on his phone. Most of your pictures could be at home, which you’re not. Also, it depends on how long you have had the pet too. Less time means less chance to take pictures, right?”

Duff interrupted. “Let’s go get the stuff, and we can gloss over the details along the way. You both will have to squeeze into the truck as it doesn’t have a back seat.”

Already, the older man lifted onto his feet and began to move toward the door.

Athena moved to grab her cellphone, wallet, and a hat to follow Duff as she and Benjamin continued to talk details.

X-Men: The New Era - Avalon Rising

ᴠᴇʀᴏɴɪᴄᴀ "ʀᴏɴɴɪᴇ" ᴍᴀʟᴄᴏʟᴍ

---

_{Saturday, October | Danger Room}

Ronnie continued to wait for a better answer from Heidi. Aggression and impatience oozed from her posture as her aura seemed to demand more.

When Oriana pointed out that her demands for more hadn’t been unreasonable, her right arm shot out and gestured at the student.

“Veronica and see?” She huffed, still waiting for better answers.

However, the redhead butted in. Immediately, Ronnie’s eyes snapped to Uná and shot the rude bitch a dark warning look. If it wasn’t for the fact their bullshit dragged her into things, Ronnie doubted she would ever talk to this rag-tag bunch of misfits.

The fact Uná decided to shrug off her justified concern and threatened her, irked Ronnie. Her fingers tightened on the meat of her arms while she continued her heated glare, her ears listened to the summary. A quick note of the names were pinned to the back of her mind.

When Uná finished, Ronnie didn’t take her hand. She didn’t appear even subdued by the answers or the friendliness Uná shifted to. Instead, she kept her arms close to her chest and opened her mouth. Before the words slipped out, another girl spoke to correct the information. This caused Ronnie to frown.

The moment for any discussion over Uná left Ronnie’s mind when she heard a masculine voice speak about monsters. Once more, her vision switch targets to zero on the man that screamed before. By this time a stressed and upset Cleo’s voice could be heard from the hallway ranting to Uná, who was still in the room. Shrugging off Crazy Cleo’s oddness, Ronnie took a step toward both Oriana and Drake.

“No, fuck that. I’m not about to play Russian Roulette with my life. Especially fighting something I don’t understand. You all want to do that, that’s your choice.” Ronnie managed not to shout it as she continued.

“I just came here to learn to control whatever is wrong with me and go back to my normal life. That’s it. Not get pulled into something I didn’t sign up for. Also, monsters? Are you sure? It sounds like fairytale has gone wrong.”