BENJI BELL IS IN THE APEX UNIT
HOUDINI
NAME Benjamin Bell
NICKNAME(S)
* Benji - The name he actually goes by, only librarians and Agent King call him Benjamin.
Never Ben unless you want his mood to sour quick.
AGE 29 October (18)
BIRTHPLACE Greyley, NY
HOMETOWN Greyley, NY
ETHNICITY White, of Irish descent, he's pretty sure
LANGUAGE(S) this is a good place to mention any other language you may know, from earth or not
FACECLAIM Cole Sprouse (Dylan Sprouse)
APPEARANCE Lanky comes to mind when you first see him. Benji is 1.85 and it didn't quite balance itself out well, he's a lot of limb and tends to be hunched over. Hands in pockets, shoulders haunched, shadows under his eyes, that's Benji Bell.
STYLE Dark hoodies and jeans and an eternal beanie on his head, Benji doesn't really bother trying to be fashionable this is fine.
THE BASICS
CHAOTIC NEUTRAL : HUFFELPUFF
Quick-witted - Misanthropist - Idealist - Pessimistic
Defensive - Emotionally Constipated - Empathetic - Insecure
Benji Bell is all edges, everything about him is poised to defend. The lopsided smiles, the tense shoulders, the snorts from the corners. You wonder if you've ever actually seen him laugh, a real laugh not just snorts or smirks preceding a snarky comment or other.
Benji is what teacher would label as a "problem child". He's sarcastic to a fault, humour dark and dry and bitter like ground coffee. He's the kid balancing his chair on the hind legs in the back of the class, staring out the window, unable to concentrate. What does it matter? It's not like he's going anywhere. Only the most stubborn teachers still reprimand him, they know all they get back is snark and insolence. He has no respect for authority, he rebels as an automatic reaction, tell him to do something and before you've finished your sentence his chin is locked in the stubborn position and his mouth is poised to say "no". A non-commital shrug is the best you can expect, be happy if you get that much.
Surprisingly, one of Benji's biggest assets is that he's actually quite clever and perceptive. Not necessarily in the book smart way but in situational awareness and problem solving. He's a creative problem solver, able to think of out of the box solutions to problems, and not afraid to use unconventional methods (and fight dirty). Certainly not leader material by any means but he might surprise you when what comes out of his mouth isn't just snark and sarcasm, hell he'll surprise himself right along with you.
Benji's world view is one big contradiction. He's the biggest misanthropist, his life hasn't exactly given him much faith in humanity, but at the same time it makes him so angry to see people taking advantage of each other. He expects nothing less but it still fills him with rage. He wants to believe in people so much, he wants the world to not be as as he thinks it is, wants people to be better than he expects them to be but he has no faith in it himself. He's seen so much exploitation, hunger for the smallest miligram of power of someone else, plain greed. The little good things in life just don't make up for the way humanity is destroying itself in real time.
He's the height of flakiness, good luck trying to get Benji to commit to anything. Even the Apex team has him sceptical, I can leave any time he tells himself. It's not like he adds that much to the team anyway, they don't need him and he doesn't need them. Sometimes he wonders why they've kept him on at all, other times he wonders why he stays.
But you must understand a vital part that defines much of Benji's existence: he avoids any kind of introspection, is much more comfortable ignoring his problems and feelings than facing them. He's here because he wants to be, he's here because he's a good kid no matter what he thinks, he's here because that one glimmering thread of idealism in him needs to believe that he's making the world better, somehow, even when his insecurities tell him that he's nothing to the team, that he's worthless. He just wants to not be a drain on society but actually add something good.
But it's hard to admit that, it's hard to face his own desires when he's so scared that it'll all be for nothing. When everyone around him sees a good for nothing trailer trash kid who will never amount to anything, when any of the good he actually does isn't even attributed to him. And he doesn't want to be a flashy superhero, he doesn't want people knowing.
But man if it doesn't hurt when people look at him like that. Like they know exactly where he is going and it's nowhere good.
And, really, are they wrong?
TL;DR snarky lil punk in the streets, angsty emotionally constipated mess in the sheets
BACKGROUND
Saying Benji didn't win the family lottery is an understatement. His dad fashioned himself a half decent con man, though he possesses more of a bronze tongue than silver. On again off again involved in petty crime and in and out of jail. He's told his mom was more of the same but she died when he was young. Something as mundane as a car accident, he's told. He doesn't remember her at all.
When it comes to family it's his sister who's always taken care of him as best she could. She's 5 years older than he is and learned to mature far before she should ever have had to, she basically raised him, especially during the times his dad was in jail. She dropped out of high school to start working so she could provide for him and he has done odd jobs since he was capable and could find someone to pay him. They've always been in this together, they relied on each other to survive.
Benji still doesn't know what gave him his powers, he assumes he's some sort of mutant, a regular old freak as he calls it. Maybe he was an alien left as changeling to spite his dad. Maybe his dad had fed him experimental drugs for pay, he wouldn't put it past him. Maybe that time he'd tripped and fell into a puddle had been a radioactive puddle, he has no clue. Could be anything. It doesn't really matter, it doesn't change the fact that, on a cold January evening about two years ago, he was walking along his usual path home at night, returning from his job delivering pizzas. It was dark and he was tense and cold when, out of the alley, a shape stumbled out of the alley. Benji jumped, thinking it might be a mugger, and next time he opens his eyes he's in trailer, right between the sink and the table.
Thank god his sister working a night shift at the reception desk so she wouldn't see him freak the out. He was half convinced he'd out or something, that could happen right? But next time he took a step he was on the other side of the trailer. So Benji started experimenting, he pulled his hoody up over his face and tried again. And again. And again.
They caught him on top of the Empire State Building, screaming at the lights of the city below.
And thus he was recruited.
IN THE LIFE OF BENJI
Benji was a worthless student before his powers awoke, working every second he wasn't in school left no room for homework and even if it did he didn't have the motivation for it. That motivation didn't magically gew in the moment Apex took him in and the jobs fell away. He's generally shirking school and trains with Wolf and King only when he has no other choice.
Most of the time he doesn't really do much of anything, he's still trying to figure out this concept of """free time""" and they've forbidden him from jumping anywhere outside of training or mission, an order he... sometimes listens to.
What he does do often is visit his sister who now lives on campus at the University of New York. He can't tell her anything about what's actually happening to him, he spun some story to her about some billionaire's philanthropy project landing him in a sweet dorm and wouldn't you know that coincided exactly with Alice's notice of a sick scholarship she was applicable for! Maybe their luck was finally turning?
THE TRIVIA
01 He'd been working part time jobs ever since he was able to, it took him a good while to adjust to the concept of free time after his recruitment. Did it improve his school performance? Of course not!
02 He's always been a scrawny thing, the mandatory training they received have now actually given him some muscle mass and it's weird.
03 Despite his academic reputation Benji is pretty naturally smart, smart enough to keep his grades within barely pass grades while working 3 jobs and sleeping through most of his classes and smart enough to help his sister with her GED. He'd do quite well if only he applied himself. If only.
04 He's gay, a fact which was received somewhere along the lines of "of ing course I'm gay, like my life wasn't hard enough." He wonders sometimes what would be harder, coming out as gay or coming out as a superhero. Life just had to kick him in the nads one more time, right? He's still deep in the closet and thus has never dated or anything, he'll burn that bridge when he gets to it.
05 If you thought that a kid with teleportation probably abused his powers all the damned time then ding ding ding, you are correct! You better believe he teleports all over the place when he can't bother walking. He's also installed a camera in the school's supply closet so he can teleport there whenever he's late for school. Or just doesn't feel like walking.
06 More later maybe!!
THE RELATIONSHIPS
BENJAMIN "BEN" BELL
FATHER
FATHER
fc: Cary Elwes
Yup, Benji was named after his father, who's currently serving time for fraud and aggravated assault. Fun stuff. Honestly, Benji's just happy he's gone, what he remembers about his father being home was... not great to say the least. Never call him Ben, he is not Ben Bell. Ben Bell is a piece of . Benji Bell is not the best but he's not that at least.
ALICE BELL
SISTER
SISTER
fc: Olivia Cooke
For as far as Benji can remember it's been Alice who's taken care of him, the two are thick as thieves and he loves her more than anymore on the world. Legit, Benji would die for her. She's everything she honestly had no business growing up to be, the way the two of them grew up: compassionate, ambitious, hardworking, kind. He looks up to her so much.
She's currently studying law after receiving a mysterious scholarship, the bargain Benji made with the organisation. Sure he'd be a superhero or whatever they wanted him to be, just make sure Alice is okay. It's the least he can do for everything she's done for him.
VANESSA VO
TEAM MATE
TEAM MATE
Benji actually doesn't really mind Vanessa, her fiery nature can be amusing for sure and he's distant enough to not get burnt. Besides, it's nice to have someone not lecture him about the value of teamwork, she's as bad as he is and there's a certain solidarity there. She generally minds her business and he minds his which serves them both just fine, though mind he's definitely not above a snarky comment when she's doing something stupid, boy just can't help himself.
KASPAR AINMIRE FITZGERALD
TEAM MATE
TEAM MATE
Lorem
BRYCE LOWELL
TEAM MATE
TEAM MATE
Lorem
PERIA ROYALEN
TEAM MATE
TEAM MATE
Lorem
BRINLEY ZURI
TEAM MATE
TEAM MATE
She's way too overbearing for his liking. Benji hates to feel smothered, hates to feel protected, and especially in the way that Brinley does it. Using her powers against him just in some false sense of protectiveness? That's so wrong on so many levels, ignoring his autonomy for her own selfish need to feel like she's protecting them, what kind of bull is that?? Benji has no problem telling her exactly what he thinks about this, probably being harsher than he has to be but he just really hates that feeling of hovering to begin with, not to mention the infringement of personal boundaries. Anything to get her off his back, she's definitely his least favourite.
VINCENT WOLF
THE OTHER ONE
THE OTHER ONE
Here's the thing, Agent Wolf is very nice and friendly and tries so hard to set them all at ease and make sure they're semi functional teenage superheroes. This is the exactly the kind of person Benji does not respond well to. Benji, with his years of emotionl constipation and self-hate, can't help but feel like Agent Wolf must be insincere, he's just doing this to make them like him right? There's this layer deep down of not deserving it, of course this can't be sincere. That's his job and Benji steps on the breaks, doing everything he can to keep him out. He responds to tough love not free love, he's just not in a position with his own self-image to let someone in who wants so bad to be let in, you know?
So what does he do? Snark and sarcasm and stubborness and more insolence than usual.
At least he's good eye candy.
GENEVIEVE KING
RESPECTED AGENT
RESPECTED AGENT
Agent King is not an easy teacher and Benji Bell is not an easy student. She's been rough on him, punished his insolence with structure and discipline and, honestly, it works. Just like she would never admit that the kids have grown on her, Benji would never admit that he has mad respect and loyalty to her either but deep down under the defensive layers he would probably die for her. Tsunderes gotta stick together, right?
Their snarky banter is legendary, honestly.
THE SUPERHERO
ALLIAS Houdini, he thought it was a good idea at the time, isn't very fond of it now
SPECIES Human with superpower mutation
ABILITIES Benji can teleport, simple as that.
The easiest is jumping somewhere he can see, either with his eyes or on a good quality live recording. If he has that he can jump with exact precision, displacing and replacing himself in an exact spot in space.
Second easiest is working from a photograph, the more recent the better. His abilities work with picturing the precise spot he needs to be in his mind and a photograph helps him picture it as accurately as possible but it comes with drawbacks. The place might not look exactly like the photo anymore: chairs move around, boxes come and go, the like. He generally jumps about a foot or so above the floor just in case there's anything as simple as a pencil he hasn't accounted for, the reason of which is this:
He has no idea what happens if he tries to jump into an occupied space.
He's been very careful so it hasn't happened before but he figures there are two options: either the sudden addition of him in all his molecules and matter splits and destroys the existing matter, or the existing matter fuses with his matter in ways that he really really really does not want to think about.
So, it's easier and safer to jump a little above the floor, lest he suddenly have a pencil fused with his foot, you feel?
He could also jump from memory but this is only a last resort. With areas he knows well this would be okay, the same risk as with a photograph. This is waht he did the first time he jumped back to his trailer. The less he knows the place the harder it is though, memory is extremely unreliable and the less accurately he can picture us jump target the less accurate his jump will be.
As for distance, he's mostly jumped around the city so far. The farther a jump is the more energy it takes and he's usually pretty tired after jumping to the other side of the city and back. His training with Agent King is still ongoing to test his limits. Benji dreams of the day he can grab a picture of the Sphynx and jump on top of his head. The day he could go absolutely anywhere he wants, escape to whatever sunny paradise he can find, maybe get the hell out of here. That's the dream, right?
SUPERSUIT If it were up to Benji he'd fight crime in a hoody and his trusted beanie but unfortunately it's not up to Benji. They make him wear a fairty tight fitted dark shirt with a thin kevlar vest on top, the less mass he has the better for his jump accuracy while the vest is there to keep him safe if it ever gets hot. There's a sling bag if he ever has to bring equipment with him and he has a leg holster for a gun just in case.
He's not the best shot, certainly no marksman, but that's the nice thing about guns, close enough range that hardly matters, right?
To cover his face he has a thin breathable ski mask, the type that protects the neck, mouth, and nose but stops there so his eyes are free. He's also added a beanie to the ensemble himself, that one he insisted on. Feels without a beanie.
IN THE LIFE OF HOUDINI Benji was recruited by both King and Wolf, the two had to work together to catch the teenager teleporting like crazy all over the city. Benji was like a hyperactive puppy who's now teleporting everywhere, the rush of his powers was crazy to him! It felt so good to feel... powerful for once. Eventually Wolf managed to catch him at the top of the Empire State Building where he'd been awed by the view. A panicked Benji jumped back to his home again but not before Wolf had spotted his face, and wouldn't you know the kid looked a whole lot like that boy who'd delivered pizza to him a couple of days ago.
So, two days and some good searching later Agent Wolf showed up at his miserable trailer and managed to engage Benji long enough to keep him from jumping again. One look at the place and he knew just how to bargain with Benji, promising that UVC would take care of him and give him a better future. Benji just wanted them to take care of Alice. An agreement was reached and Benji was packing his bags.
Benji's teleportation is mostly used for infiltration, it's very useful for getting around unseen and Benji's talent for strategy comes in useful. If you gotta grab some files and have some security footage for reference he can jump in and out no problem. He's quite perceptive and quick to spot opportunities others might not, he's a very out of the box type thinker.
That aside his powers come in useful in combat too (catch me if you can~) though he's not the best fighter and it's a real last resort. Still, with his quick thinking Benji might surprise you with the solutions he comes up with and he's not afraid to fight very dirty. Why spar honorable when you could jump to the far side of the room, grab the fire extinguisher, jump back, and spray the contents right in the bad guy's face? Much more efficient and effective.
Where he lacks big time is team work, Benji's always been independent and used to relying on himself alone to see him through life, he's not super good at working with others and he can be a pain to be around honestly. Some people can stand his pessimism and sarcasm, some people want to kill him, win some lose some.
THE INTERVIEW
TIGHT FIT OR LOOSE FIT COSTUME
"Definitely not tight! Why can't I just wear hoodies and jeans?"
CAPE OR NO CAPE
"No cape, definitely no cape!"
BE A SUPERHERO OR A SECRET AGENT
"Secret agent I guess, I mean being a superhero is very... public. I'd rather just do whatever I have to and get on with my day you know? Besides, teleportation isn't all the heroic."
POWER TO FLY OR TO READ MINDS
"Fly for sure. I don't need to know what's in people's heads, whatever it is I probably really don't want to know like best case scenario it's nonsense, worst case scenario it's horrid ad I'd want to bleach my brain. Flying is sweet, let's do flying."
AGENT WOLF OR AGENT KING
"Agent King is a hardass but she knows what she's doing. Agent Wolf is... egh."
FINISH YOUR FINALS TEST OR SAVE HARLEM FROM A RAMPAGING MONSTER?
"I mean, school is whatever anyway, might as well save Harlem I guess they have that one really good chicken place."
YOU SEE YOUR BUS ABOUT TO LEAVE AND AN OLD LADY THAT NEEDS HELP CROSSING THE STREET, WHAT'S YOUR MOVE?
"I mean, I can just teleport to school..." he shrugs. "I guess."
"I mean, I can just teleport to school..." he shrugs. "I guess."
THE GOODBYE
COMMENTS Once again I prove that my heart lies with angsty boys.
His background is inspired by Education, (great show!) a good for nothing with no prospects who cares more than he lets himself. I hope you like him and he's not too dreary!
Matchmake the out of this kid if you want him to know love <3
SCENE SGST. answer
NOW PLAYING So so so angsty <3
#052025 #446c75 #1F373D FFFFFF
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