Origin

Niles blinked. Did he see that right?
Did a snake just turn into a mouse?
The last place he expected to see any kind of oddity was while he was grocery shopping.

He kept a close eye on the mouse as it scampered along the floor. Thankfully, his shopping was already done, and his two bags of groceries were in his lap. He watched as the mouse scampered out of the doors, and he decided to follow suit. 

When Niles exited the store, the mouse was nowhere to be seen. Instead, there was a deer walking outside. It seemed to be oblivious to Niles’ presence. This gave him an idea.

He looked down and reached into one of his grocery bags. The sudden rustling noise of the plastic bag startled the deer, its head perking up and finally noticing Niles. “Shh.. shhh…” He attempted to calm the animal, in hopes that it wouldn't run away from him. It seemed to work, for the deer merely stood there looking at him in a startled daze.

Niles took a spinach leaf from the bag and extended it out to the deer. The deer’s eyes widened immediately, and it took a few hooved steps towards him. After a few hesitant seconds, it ate the leaf from his hand. Niles looked at the animal, and in a soft voice, he asked, “Are you a shapeshifter?”

The deer jolted in fright, and it turned around and began to run away. “Wait! I can help you!” Niles exclaimed before it could get too far. The animal immediately stopped in its tracks upon hearing his words, and it turned back around. 

“My name is Dr. Niles Caulder, and I specialize in those like you, those with unnatural powers. I can help you.” 

The deer took a few hesitant steps back towards him. The deer then turned into a mouse, and the mouse scampered closer to him. 

Niles looked down at the little animal on the concrete. “If you’re needing a place to stay, I can take you to our home, and introduce you to the rest of us. I’d quite like to have you there, so I can learn more about you. …would that be alright with you?” He didn’t know how the animal would answer his request, but he figured it would find a way.

The mouse ran up and clambered up Niles’ wheelchair, taking a seat on his knee. “Good. Very good.” Niles smiled. He was very proud to have gained the trust of a new individual with powers, especially one as seemingly shy as this.

Niles made his way to his car, with the mouse comfortably perched atop his lap. He looked down at it. “Can you write?” The mouse’s answer was to run around in a circle. “I take it that’s a yes?” Niles asked for confirmation. It ran around in a circle again. “Ah, wonderful!”

Niles was very excited about all this. He was quite looking forward to making it back home. “I’ll get you set up with some paper once we get to the Manor, and you can tell me all about yourself.” He was also very happy that he had now established a way to ask them yes or no questions while they can’t talk. 

“Do you have another home, somewhere else?” Niles wondered. The mouse ran side to side, which Niles took as a no. “Ah, I see… you have my sympathy. Hopefully the manor will be a nice home for you.” He shone them an optimistic smile.

He approached his car, and the mouse climbed up onto his shoulder as he moved his legs from his wheelchair to the driver’s seat. He took apart his wheelchair and put it into the space in the car behind him before closing the car door and making the trip back to Doom Manor. He was quite eager to learn about this person, and introduce him to the rest of the team.