Chapter Fourteen: Team Work
Xavier Institute
Teamwork. The words themselves put a bad taste in his mouth. It wasn't really his fault, he or rather Peter had spent too much time working solo, he had started fighting crime when he was fifteen years old, and it had always been them fighting alone. So how could a person nearly nineteen years old learn to coordinate with a team, when all he had ever known was solo fighting? He didn't really have an answer but it was turning out to be very… hard. He had fooled himself thinking that since he had participated with Dare Devil on multiple occasions, he was somewhat prepared for what the X-Men had to offer. He hadn't really planned on how much he would just be in the way.
It all started that morning his new team was finally formed and they were going to starting the first real battle simulation together... at the god awful time of six A.M.
Storm was standing in front of them giving a rousing speech about the danger of real battle. Ben wasn't going to lie, he had totally zoned out after about a minute. He didn't really use to getting up so early in the morning, and honestly, he felt he knew all too well about the danger in battles. He had faced the hobgoblin on many occasions and the flying terror shot out bombs… real bombs!
Storm's speech finally ended and Jean and Rouge lead them into a metallic room. He had watched from the observation room when the other students tested for to who would join the X-men gold and blue teams. At the time he saw how the Danger room transformed into a myriad of different battlegrounds that challenged the students in different scenarios. He knew he could handle most of what this room could throw at him, but he didn't expect to have to follow a team mentality.
Once the simulation was turned on the Danger room came to life. The sky became dark and overcast and they suddenly were deep inside of a jungle. If he didn't know for a fact he was standing inside of a simulation he wouldn't believe what he was seeing wasn't actually real.
STOMP… CRASH!!! "ALL MUTANTS DO NOT ATTEMPT TO RESIST ARREST!!" A voice boomed into existence making the teens cringe and cover their ears in protest. Suddenly the trees parted and three giant robots standing at fifty feet tall towered above them.
"Ok team remember what Stor…" Jean's words were interrupted as Ben leaped up onto the closest Sentinel and like lightning, he crawled his way onto the massive robotic head. Making quick work of that enemy he ripped a whole into its head and climbed inside to started rewiring the robot.
Ben had thought of a plan, one where no one would get hurt, but he had to act fast.
Meanwhile, Jean looked at Rogue her second in command in frustration, "He is going to require a whole lot of work…" Nodding she responded back, "All yours sugar, and I will just focus on the others." Frowning Jean just got handed the problem of the group. "Great," She said aloud.
Rolling her eyes Rogue shouted out to the other new members of team blue, "Ok, everyone listen up. Nobody is going to be a lone hero today stay close and support each other."
Just as her words ended the Sentinel that Ben had run into started to power up its weapons. The five remaining members of the blue team got ready for battle. Then suddenly the first Sentinel moved his arm away from the blue team and shot the other two. In an array of showering sparks, a large head landed on their right, while its body went backward like a falling tree. The other sentinel noticed the betrayal and started powering up his systems to point towards Ben when it too was ripped apart from Ben's sentinel. The battle was over before it had a chance to start.
Turning its arm against itself Ben's sentinel blasted half its head to smithereens. Then the broken robot fell to its knees before powering down.
Sticking his head out of the door he created Ben waved his hand. "Hi, guys don't you think that there is nothing like kicking robot ass before breakfast!" He said before flipping off the damaged sentinel's head and landing before them taking off his mask. He had a huge grin on his face as he approached the group. His smile fell as he noticed the angry looks they were giving him.
Passing by him and exiting the danger room an angry Spyke knocked into his shoulder, "No, we wouldn't know! Can you guess why?" But he didn't stay around long enough for him to answer.
Shocked at their response Bens mouth was hanging open in bewilderment. A small gloved hand reached up and lifted his chin effectively shutting his agape mouth when he wasn't paying attention. "Ya know sugar, for a person that has a genius IQ… You're a little dumb." Rogue sashayed out of the room her figure looking awfully appealing in the Goth garb.
"Ben, can you stay behind so we can talk…" Turning his head he noticed it was Jean that remained behind after the frustrated team had gone.
"So, I'm guessing what I just did was…Bad?" Ben said still not understanding what was happening.
Jean just sighed as she waved the clueless boy over to her.
INSIDE THE OBSERVATION ROOM
Hmmm...
Logan frowned as he watched through the window of the observation room. Riley was a gifted fighter but reckless. Not in a show-off sort of way but more like HE considered himself to be expendable. From what Beast had been able to pull up on 'Spider-man's' battles that had been observed, he seemed obsessed with drawing the fight onto himself. It was understandable if everyone around you was helpless but his teammates were anything but helpless.
Helplessness... Logan paused when thought of that word. This was what Ben needed to face. Once he accepted the possibility that he might need someone else to cover his bets then he would learn to work as part of a team.
15 MINUTES LATER - STRATEGY ROOM
The room Jean took Ben to was very reminiscent of a police briefing room one would see on television. It had a few rows of seats with several tables and a projector in the front. Unlike what he had seen on TV there was a red leather couch that set in the corner. Ben found the sight very odd, the whole of the Xavier mansion was bathed in luxury. He hadn't really seen a folding table or a lawn chair in this place, but unexpectedly there was a random red love seat just setting in a simi-important room.
Jean sat down and patted the seat beside her. "Ben we need to talk." Her face was neutral she didn't really appear to be angry unlike the rest of the team. He followed her lead and sat down beside her. He really tried not to be around the redhead, there were so many things about her that reminded him of MJ. Her red hair, forest green eyes and her calm demeanor that said she already had everything figured out.
Shaking his head he put the other redhead out of his mind and focused on the person in front of him. "So, I'm guessing... I shouldn't have jumped the gun today." Since he had a few minutes to think about it he realized that this was the team's first training, and they hardly had a chance to get dressed in their x-suits before he had ended the battle. It had to be frustrating for them.
"No, you shouldn't have. But Ben I think you are still missing the point." Jean said sounding for the first time a little frustrated.
"Well, can you let me in on the secret because it's killing me here." Ben was honestly starting to feel a similar frustration to hers. There was so much presentation in telling him what he had done wrong. Just say it! If he didn't understand what he did wrong, how could he work on the issue?
"Ben I know the concept of teamwork isn't something that comes naturally at this point, but do you realize what you did today could have gotten us all either hurt or killed?" Rubbing the bridge of her nose she went on. "Could you think what would have happened if you had gotten hurt? What would happen to the rest of us?"
At Ben's blank look she continued. "We would have to worry about the sentinels while also trying to save you. We could have been pinned down and there is a good chance we all couldn't have made it out of there... Can you imagine one of your friends getting hurt because you made a rash decision?"
"Jean, no one got hurt. I ran the scenarios in my head and that was the fastest way to take down the opponent and the..."
"What if there was a fourth or a fifth, what if there were a hundred more sentinels and you just abandoned us, Ben?" Jean was getting more upset and he realized she was just trying to make a point. What he did was rash and if he didn't a least try to see it her way he wouldn't last long here.
"Jean I'm sorry, the thing is I've spent years battling thousands without back up. It's not like I've never wanted help doing what I do each night. It's just that no one has ever wanted to help me..." Ha, he laughed depressingly, "there was a time that I tried to join the fantastic four... They were not mean per se but they pretty much outright refused..."
Jeans face changed from a stern one to a more gentle one, "Ben I'm sor..." She had placed a hand on top of his own, but as soon as that happens something strange happened... Their world faded away...