[34] Unlikely Alliances

Chapter 34: Unlikely Alliances

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Concrete dust danced in the afternoon air like ashes from a funeral pyre, settling over the devastation as it glittered against the sunlight. The street looked like a war zone, which… technically, it was. Just not the kind of war normal people expected to see in downtown Philadelphia.

I stood there, putting my hands in my pockets, watching Jean Grey struggle to push herself up on trembling arms. Blood dripped from her nose onto the cracked asphalt, the dripping sound punctuating the halt of the X-Men's superiority complex. Beside her, Scott Summers – the bastard – groaned, his precious visor dented, one hand pressed against ribs that were probably bruised if not outright broken.

And there, standing over them like some avenging angel in civilian clothes, was Rogue.

I could see what was going on, how the scene must have played out inside the building. The satisfaction that filled my chest was probably petty. Definitely unheroic. But damn if it didn't feel good watching the mighty X-Men get their asses handed to them after their annoying attitude earlier.

"Urgh..." Jean's voice came out rough, pained. She managed to get to her knees, one hand wiping blood from her face. "Rogue... why? Just why won't you listen?"

"Why?" Rogue's laugh was sharp as broken glass. "Sugar, if you have to ask, then you really don't know me at all."

Movement from the gaping hole in the apartment building caught my eye. "Stop trying already, I'm intangible and I hate bugs!" Kitty Pryde shouted in desperation as she phased through the rubble, and she was being chased by a skinny guy who looked like he hadn't seen a decent meal in months. 

Clancy, the bug controller. His eyes darted everywhere, wild and terrified even as he chased Kitty, like a cornered animal looking for an escape route that didn't exist.

Kitty's gaze swept the scene, her fallen teammates, Rogue standing victorious, and us just... watching. Her expression shifted from shock to desperation to something that might have been betrayal.

"You!" She pointed at me, voice cracking. "You wanted to help earlier! Transform and stop her! She's– she's my friend, but she's acting like a villain!"

"Aw, sweet Kitty," Rogue said from the side, mocking her.

I tilted my head, considering. The Omnitrix pulsed on my wrist, ready and waiting. One transformation and I could probably contain the situation. With the right alien, I could end this whole mess in seconds.

Instead, I shrugged.

"Nah," I said, the word casual as a Sunday morning. "Not my problem."

Kitty's mouth fell open. Even Gwen shot me a surprised look, though she kept quiet.

"Not your—" Kitty sputtered. "She's kidnapping him!"

"Is she?" I glanced at Rogue, then at Clancy, who was now standing near Rogue like she was his only savior in a world gone mad. "Looks to me like she's solving the city's bug problem. Guy leaves, bugs leave. Win-win."

"You can't be serious!"

"Dead serious." I crossed my arms, meeting her horrified gaze without flinching. "Your team tried to mind-rape me ten minutes ago. Why exactly would I help you now?"

The casual 'mind-rape' made everyone flinch. Good. Maybe they'd think twice next time before treating people's thoughts like public property.

My voice must have carried further than intended because Rogue's head turned toward me. Those green eyes narrowed, taking in my face, my stance, the way Gwen hovered protectively nearby. Recognition dawned slowly, like sunrise over a battlefield.

"You..." Her gaze dropped to my shirt—just a plain white tee, nothing special. But she wasn't looking at the shirt. She was remembering. "That shirt. You're the dude with the four arms from Walmart."

The southern drawl made even accusations sound like honey, but there was steel underneath. This can't be good. She took a step closer, and I noticed how the insects in the area seemed to part for her, like even they recognized a predator.

"You lost last time," she continued, circling me slowly. Assessing. Calculating. "But you're strong to have gone against the Hulk. You came to have another go?"

"No, I didn't lose," I countered. "And I have no intention of fighting you. Like I said, you're doing everyone a favor here."

Something flickered across her face. Not quite a smile, but close. "You're the one who took over my body that day, aren't you?"

Every muscle in my body tensed. Beside me, Gwen's hand drifted toward her charms. Even Grandpa shifted his weight, ready to intervene if this went south. The memory of being inside Rogue's body, feeling her pain, her anger, her desperate need for acceptance. It all came flooding back.

But her voice lacked the anger I expected. If anything, she sounded... curious?

"Magneto kicked me out of the Brotherhood after what you did using my body, and that got me real mad. I wanted to bash your head in when we met again," she said, cracking her knuckles. The sound was unnaturally loud in the tense silence. "But... now that I see you, you're kinda chill."

I stared at her blankly. I was taken aback for a moment, and then a smirk tugged at my lips. "Are you going to ask me out on a date next?"

The laugh that burst from her was genuine, throaty, and unexpected. It transformed her face, making her look younger, less burdened. For a moment, I caught a glimpse of who Anna Marie might have been in a kinder world.

"My relationships don't last long, sugar," she said, and there was something almost sad in the warning.

From the ground, Jean's voice cut through the moment like a rusty knife. "A-are you two... flirting?"

"Seriously?" Scott added his own pained grunt of agreement. "Now?"

Rogue's expression hardened instantly. Without looking, she kicked out, catching both X-Men on their sides and sending them rolling further down the street. Not hard enough to kill them, but definitely hard enough to break some bones. God, she was strong. If Jean had the Phoenix's powers, she'd win easily, but right now? I could see how she'd defeated these two.

"Anyway," she said, turning back to me like nothing had happened. "You got another witty reply?"

I was about to do just that when Grandpa decided to intervene.

"Ben." His voice carried that particular tone that meant 'listen carefully because I'm only going to say this once.' "I'm angry at them too, but she's still one of Magneto's soldiers. Letting her recruit him means we're creating a bigger threat for civilians down the line."

Leave it to Grandpa to be the voice of reason when all I wanted was to watch the X-Men suffer a little longer. But he had a point. Magneto and his goons with an army of insect-controlling? That was a disaster waiting to happen.

"But, isn't Magento in jail? And she said she got kicked out…" Gwen argued.

Rogue's smirk widened. "Oh, didn't you hear? Magneto's already out. Broke out of that fancy plastic prison last week. Government's keeping it quiet, but… Eh, you know how it goes," she shrugged. "Hard to keep the Master of Magnetism locked up when the world's full of metal. Your gramps is right, smart man, I'm gonna take bug boy to Magneto to ask for forgiveness."

Of course, he escaped. "Haah."

She turned back to me, rolling her shoulders like a boxer preparing for a match. "Look, 'Ben.' Transform. I like your vibe, so I don't want you getting in trouble with the X-Men for not even trying to stop me."

"How thoughtful," I deadpanned.

"Plus," she continued, and now her smile had teeth, "I'm still a little angry. Fight me. I promise not to break all your limbs."

"Just most of them?" Gwen muttered beside me.

I sighed. This was happening whether I wanted it or not. Rogue had that look in her eyes, the one that said she'd make this a fight regardless of my participation. Better to control the terms than get sucker-punched while trying to be diplomatic.

"Fine," I said, already reaching for the Omnitrix.

For a split second, I considered Ghostfreak. It would be easy like last time, possess her again, end this quickly. But the hypocrisy of using possession after calling out Jean for mind-probing stopped me cold. I wasn't about to become what I criticized.

A violent sneeze erupted from me, my cold choosing the worst possible moment to remind me of its existence. But my hand was already in motion, slamming down on the Omnitrix dial with practiced ease.

Green light exploded outward, and I felt the familiar rush of transformation. 

My flesh hardened, crystallized, became living diamond. My perspective shifted as I grew taller, broader, more angular. When the light faded, Diamondhead stood where Ben Tennyson had been. "Diamondhead!"

"Now we're talking!" Rogue's eyes lit up with genuine excitement. "How many of these do you even have?"

She didn't wait for my reply, she moved first, crossing the distance between us in a blur of motion. Her fist, powered by whatever portion of Ms. Marvel's abilities she'd retained, connected with my chest with the force of a freight train.

I slid backward, crystal feet carving grooves in the asphalt, but I didn't fall. Didn't even crack.

"Nice," I said, my voice carrying that weird harmonic quality it had in this form. "My turn."

I thrust both hands forward, sending a barrage of diamond projectiles screaming through the air. Rogue weaved between them with inhuman grace, shattering the ones she couldn't dodge with precise strikes. Each impact sent crystalline shrapnel flying, creating a deadly beautiful light show.

She closed in again, this time aiming low. I brought my knee up to block, the collision sending shockwaves through the street. Windows that had survived the earlier destruction finally gave up, shattering in symphonic surrender.

"You're holding back," she accused, dancing away from my retaliatory strike.

"Just feeling the waters," I countered, slamming my fist into the ground.

A wall of crystal erupted between us, buying me a second to think. This wasn't like fighting Vilgax's drones or random criminals. Rogue was skilled, powerful, and worst of all, she was enjoying this. Every exchange taught her more about how I moved, how I thought.

She burst through my wall like it was tissue paper, fragments of diamond catching the light as they scattered. Her knee caught me in the solar plexus, or where it would be if I had organs in this form. I stumbled back, more from surprise than pain.

"Come on, crystal boy!" She pressed her advantage, fists blurring as she hammered at my defenses. "Show me what beat the Hulk!"

Beat the Hulk? Lady, you're lucky I can't use Four Arms against you.

But she had a point. I was fighting defensively, reactively. Time to change that.

I caught her next punch in my palm, crystal fingers closing around her fist. Before she could pull away, I spun, using her own momentum to send her flying. She hit a parked car hard enough to fold it in half, but was back on her feet instantly, spitting out what looked like a tooth.

"Better," she said, and actually seemed to mean it.

The fight escalated from there. I shaped the battlefield to my advantage, turning sections of street into crystal mazes, firing projectiles from unexpected angles. She countered with raw power and surprising tactical awareness, using the environment against me as much as I did against her.

At one point, she grabbed a manhole cover and flung it like a discus. I barely got my arms up in time, the impact sending me skidding back. When I lowered my guard, she was already there, driving her elbow into my chest with enough force to spiderweb the crystal.

But that was the beauty of Diamondhead. I regenerated instantly, the cracks sealing themselves even as she watched.

"Okay, that's just unfair," she muttered.

"Says the woman with Superman-lite powers," I shot back, sweeping her legs with a extending crystal formation.

"Who's Superman?" She went down but turned it into a backflip, landing in a crouch. We circled each other, both breathing hard—well, she was breathing hard. I wasn't sure Diamondhead actually needed to breathe.

"You know," she said conversationally, like we weren't in the middle of beating the hell out of each other, "I can see why you held your own against those monsters. You're not just strong. You're kinda smart."

"Flattery won't make me go easy on you."

"Wasn't trying to, sugar."

She came at me again, but this time I was ready. Instead of meeting her charge, I slammed both fists into the pavement. The street erupted, crystal formations bursting upward in a carefully controlled pattern. Layer after layer of dense, heavy diamond rose around her, too fast for even her enhanced reflexes to completely avoid.

She did manage to avoid some, punching others to shatter them into pieces, but that just turned them into smaller chunks raining down on her. She didn't see it coming when I raised my arms, and larger chunks rose from the ground and into the air, as Diamondhead could make his creations fly, and I sent them hurling toward her head.

Everything crashed into one place, tons and tons of crystal raining like it was the end of the world. The impact caused explosions, and smoke and dust filled the area.

When the dust settled, Rogue was trapped in a crystalline prison that would have made Elsa jealous. Multiple layers of interwoven diamond encased her from neck down, leaving only her head exposed. The structure was a work of art, beautiful, intricate, and absolutely inescapable.

She tested the bonds once, muscles straining, then relaxed. A grudging smile played at her lips as she spit out what was definitely a tooth this time.

"Urgh… Why didn't you use this form last time?" she asked, a little curious.

I leaned in close, dropping my voice to a whisper. The X-Men were still groaning on the ground, Kitty was now trying to talk sense intoClancy, and Grandpa and Gwen were far enough away. This was just between us.

"Got a bit too excited last time," I admitted. "...Look, I'll create enough space around your arms so that you can move them to a strong swing. In a second. Act like you broke it on your own, and run. Got it?"

The smile vanished, replaced by confusion and something that might have been suspicion. "What?"

"You heard me."

"You sure?" Her voice was equally quiet now, searching. "I'm a criminal, you know. Magneto's attack dog. The big bad wolf."

This was stupid. Heroically stupid. The kind of stupid that got people killed in comic books. But I knew Rogue, not just from the comics, but from the memory of her thoughts, her pain, the betrayal she'd felt. It all came rushing back.

"Listen..." I started, then stopped. How did you tell someone you'd been inside their head without sounding like a creep? "I didn't mean to pry, but I saw what they did to you... when I was inside you."

Her expression went carefully blank.

"And they pissed me off earlier," I continued, nodding toward the fallen X-Men. "Your crashout is valid. I'm not saying this out of pity... I just don't want them to capture you."

For a long moment, Rogue said nothing. Her green eyes searched mine, looking for the lie, the trap, the angle. Southern girls learned early not to trust easy kindness, and mutant southern girls learned it double.

Finally, she spoke. "You're either the dumbest hero I've ever met or the smartest."

"Jury's still out on that one," I admitted. "You should be able to move now."

She nodded once, almost imperceptibly. Then her entire demeanor changed. The confusion vanished, replaced by raw determination. She let out a roar that would have done the Hulk proud, muscles bulging as she strained against her crystal prison.

The diamond shattered outward in a spectacular explosion of force and light. I made sure to stumble back, selling the act as crystalline shrapnel pinged off my body. She surged forward, shoving me with enough force to send me sliding across the street.

In one fluid motion, she spun and grabbed Clancy by his collar. The poor guy yelped, but she was already moving, powerful legs launching them both toward a nearby rooftop. She landed with cat-like grace, Clancy clutched against her like a sack of terrified potatoes.

For a moment, she stood silhouetted against the afternoon sky, looking down at me with an expression I couldn't quite read. That small, mysterious smile was back.

"I'll see you again later, transformation boy," she called out, voice carrying clearly across the distance. "It's 1-1 for now."

"Excuse me?! It's 2-1!"

Then she was gone, leaping from rooftop to rooftop with her bewildered cargo, vanishing into the urban jungle of Philadelphia.

I stood there in the ruins of our battle, crystal body catching the light, wondering what the hell I'd just done.

"Ben!" Gwen's voice cut through my thoughts. "What was that? Why were you conversing with her? You gave her enough time to break free!"

I shrugged. "You're talking as if I should have killed her instead of talking to her then. Even if I stayed quiet, wouldn't she have broken out?"

"Umm…" Gwen had no argument.

Classic Ben Tennyson move, I thought ruefully. Save the world or get the girl? Why not try for both and probably fail at everything?

Around us, the insects were already beginning to disperse, their controller gone. The immediate crisis was over, but I had a feeling the real problems were just beginning. After all, I'd just annoyed the X-Men and caught the interest of one of the Brotherhood's most dangerous members.

Summer vacation was getting fun.

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Author Note: If you guys remember, Diamondhead is superrrr strong. He defeated Vilgax, who easily shattered Chromastone. Ben just needs some experience mastering Diamondhead, and he's already super OP.