Re-Evolution: Episode 1: The Shadow Over New Salem

Todd led Morgan to the by-now mostly empty back parking lot of the school, where there was a small knot of people chatting idly and hanging around what looked like an old military vehicle.

"Hey hey, guys! hope we got room for one more, cause look who brought the new girl!"

Todd waved at the bunch, one of whom Morgan recognized as Dorian from her theater class.

Morgan grinned excitedly and waved "hey! Dorian, I didn't expect to see you here!"

One of the others, a tall girl in an old and faded leather jacket and a black eye patch over one eye looked Morgan over before glancing at Todd.

"Who's the new girl?" She asked, her voice even and just a hair above monotone.

Dorian waved to Morgan. "I didn't expect to see you either; and now I'm feeling a hair embarrassed for not inviting you myself. Callisto, dear, this is Morgan. She's in our theatre class. Morgan, meet Callisto."

"I remember you from theater too, actually." Morgan grinned, pointing at Callisto. "Though you seemed so bored out of your skull that I wouldn't be surprised you don't remember."

Callisto stared at her a moment before she snapped her fingers. "Ah, yeah. The dramatic one." She nodded approvingly "Cool. Welcome aboard."

The last, the tall and broad shouldered guy in the brown jean vest glanced up from where he was checking the oil and snickered. "Shit, Todd managed to get a cute girl to come hang out? Check the sky, are pigs flying?"

"Haven't seen any yet," Todd grinned, tugging at his shirt pridefully. "Must just be my winnin' personality finally paying off."

"Doubt it, Todd." The boy in the brown vest grinned.He flashed Morgan a thumbs up "I'm Lance. Todd's old friend."

Morgan brushed her hair over her ears, careful not to expose them...just in case. "Good to meet all of you. This should be fun."

Todd noticed Morgan hide her ear and elbowed her gently. "Hey, never mind that, Morg, you're among friends if ya get my drift."

Dorian raised an eyebrow and looked Morgan over again. "Hmmm?”

Callisto glanced at her significantly, before closing her visible eye with a nod. "Yeah."

Morgan's eyes widened, and then she grinned widely again,brushing her hair away from her ear. "Well isn't that convenient. Good bunch of friends you have here, Toddy."

Lance gestured to the car. "Wanna hop in? We can chat about it on the way."

Todd opened the door for her. "Your chariot awaits, Vampirella."

"My chariot, hm?" She purred, slipping into the car. "Thanks, Leapfrog."

Callisto raised her eyebrow, but slipped into the driver's seat at the same moment Lance was attempting to, forcing him to take shotgun with a muttered "god DAMN it."

Dorian chuckled at the exhcange, climbing into the back seat behind Lance, and patting him on the shoulder. "Better luck next time."

Lance glanced over his shoulder. "I swear man, it's like she thinks it's her car."

And they were off, Callisto tearing down the streets of the New York suburb.

"So you're all..ah.." Morgan thought for a minute, "what was it Piotr said...Mutants too, huh?"

Lance nodded to Morgan. "Yeah, believe it or not, yeah. Even if most of us don't have anything as obvious as Todd and that tongue of his."

"Tongue?" Morgan raised her eyebrow.

Todd pouted performatively, crossing his arms. "Aw, man, Lance, you spoiled the surprise!"

Dorian snickered. "I *hope* you weren't planning on *too* much of a surprise. What a rude thing to suggest to a lady."

Todd flushed a bit green at the suggestion and snapped, "Ya got a dirty mind, pirate boy!"

Morgan felt her own cheeks flush as well, covering her mouth as she started laughing. "It'd be one hell of a surprise, I'll give him that."

Callisto peered back at them in the rearview mirror, her single visible grey eye locking on Todd in the backseat. "Protection." was all she said.

Todd made a noise a little like drowning, and sank half way into his seat. "Aw man I'm bein' ganged up on..." 

Dorian snorted with amusement and flashed Morgan a grin. "Since he seems too shy to tell you himself, I'll break the news that our friend Toad here has a tongue very reminiscent of his namesake."

"Well isn't that something." Morgan purred. "Bet it makes you real popular with the ladies, leapfrog."

"You'd think." Lance snickered

In the front seat, Callisto smirked. "In the interest of saving Todd from melting into a puddle, I will admit my mutation. I have enhanced senses. And a mind for tactics."

"That's it?" Morgan blinked in surprise at the lackluster confession.

"Eh. More or less." Callisto smiled enigmatically.

"Our dear callisto is a delightful mystery, as all women are, I'm told," Dorian explained. "I wouldn't really know about that. As for myself, I have the most *amazing* voice."

"Yeah amazingly destructive," Toad snorted, shooting a grateful glance to Callisto in the rearview mirror.

Callisto blinked at him. Maybe it was a wink. Hard to tell with the eyepatch.

"Yeah, the guy howls like a fucking banshee and brings the literal house down." Lance smirked.

"You're one to talk." Callisto countered. "Mr. Richter scale."

Morgan simply looked both fascinated and amused, her lips parted in a wide smile.

"Yeah between Dorian and Lance they could really bring down the house,” Todd nodded. "And I mean the whole house."

"And we'd get an applause, too," Dorian purred. "At least, I'd say we should."

"Somehow I don't think the audience would give us a standing ovation," Lance snorted. "Unless it was with pitchforks and torches instead of flowers."

Callisto glanced at them, and then back at the road with a nod.

Morgan leaned on her hand, overwhelmed and pleased to be in such relaxed company. "Oh I wish I could see you in action. All of you!"

She put her hand on her chest, "my mutation is..."

"That you drink blood?" Callisto asked, glancing at her in the mirror.

"N-no." Morgan flushed, glancing off to the side. *As much as I've had the urge to...no. I manipulate shadows...with a bit of stepping through them as a method of teleportation."

"Ya got a wicked pair of fangs though," Todd pointed out. "Saw 'em myself!"

"Ah yes, the lovely smile I saw earlier," Dorian teased. 

Morgan’s smile recovered, and she brushed her finger over her lips thoughtfully. "Maybe I should give it a try sometime." she mused "if I can find the right...victim."

She caught Todd giving her a nervously interested glance as she spoke.

"Maybe you ought to.” Dorian replied, nodding. “Even so, teleportation is a tremendously useful gift,” 

"It is. I used to use it to get to class on time until Greg found out and had a fit."She chuckled , leaning on her hand with a fang-filled smile.

Lance froze in the passenger seat as he heard Morgan mention Greg. "...oh. Fuck."

"Problem, Lance?" Dorian asked with some confusion, cocking his head.

Todd sat up, snickering. "Sounds like he's met the 40-tonne-gorilla. Uh, no offense, Morg."

"The dude's my shop partner. He kept going on about his muscles." He glanced over his shoulder at Morgan. "And about how he had a rep for protecting his sis. He also *really* doesn't like you, Toad."

“Yeah trust me, I noticed, bro,” Todd nodded, grimacing.

"Great. Just peachy.” Morgan grumbled, her expression a similar one of displeasure. “He's probably gonna try to chase off any friend I make who doesn't fit his preppy good girl ideal of me. Again."

Callisto looked almost thoughtful for a moment.

"Is this often a problem for you, Morgan?" Dorian asked. "Sounds a touch over protective to me."

"*Sounds* like he's gonna try to rip my arms off and beat me to death with 'em," Todd snorted.

"Trust me, it's more than a touch." Morgan agreed with frustration. "He sets out my damned clothes and has a fit if I wanna wear my *own* style. He chases off any friend I make who's not Greg-approved. He tells me not to do this, not to do that. He probably will rip Todd's arms off and beat him to death with them if he had half the chance. It's a big problem."

"Don't worry, Todd." Callisto said dryly "I'll stop him at at least one arm. We can probably replace it pretty easy."

"Yeah, well, as much as I like the sound of a sick robot arm, sounds like it'd be less hassle to replace the bro instead, yo," Todd snorted.

"He really lays out your clothes?" Dorian asked. "Isn't that a bit...."

"Creepy," Todd interjected. "The word you lookin for is creepy."

"Yeah it's not exactly 'normal sibling behavior.' " she muttered, crossing her arms. "I turned into B-movie's monster of the week, and even I think it's a little on the 'unsettling' side."

She dropped her head into her arms with a quiet groan "I know he's just trying to protect me, but it's not like all this shit's stopped anyone from attacking me."

Lance hissed through his teeth, glancing back at the backseat again. "People suck like that...but your brother's taken it to a fuckin level. the guy's gotta buzz off, from the sound of it."

"Yeeeeah," Todd nodded. "I mean the shit those dickwads were sayin' in the gym was yikes bullshit, but it was the coach your bro was about to break the teeth of."

"What's this about attacks, and dickwads?" Dorian raised an eyebrow.

Morgan tensed as the locker incident came up and shrugged her shoulders. 

"I ah. The school made a mistake and assigned me to the wrong gym class." She rubbed her neck, "and a lot of the people who were there started talking about me because of it. I got some from some of the other girls trying out for cheer squad too. But Todd's right...it wasn't the kids talking shit about me he was threatening...just the coach. He had the wrong target. I'm ...pretty sure it was just a clerical error because of...some stuff."

Morgan braced herself for a bad reaction from the others in the car as they put two and two together. 

But it never came.

"The cheer squad hopefuls too? Hm..." Callisto frowned slightly. She was thoughtful a moment before she said, "sorry, Morgan."

Lance punched his hand. "You need anyone's nose broken in, you can ask us. The rumor mill's no friend of ours."

"Indeed,” Dorian tapped his chin. “You wouldn't happen to have caught any of the *names* of these wretches, would you?"

Todd, meanwhile, pressed his luck, patting Morgan in a consoling way on the shoulder.It  paid off, she didn't deck him in the face *or* call him a creep. Instead she gave him a thankful smile, brushing the hair out of her face with a nod. She was feeling welcome again, maybe more so than before.

"None of the guys at gym, but....Becky I think was the ringleader of the Abercrombie and Bitch gang who tried to start shit with me." She snarled, I nearly pummeled them with their own twiggy shadows."

"That's the spirit." Callisto smiled in the mirror.

"Yo, I woulda paid money to see that," Todd agreed.

"If that was Becky Vernon, and I *suspect* it was, she'll have had two lackies with her, a blond and a brunette, am I right?" Dorian asked.

"Becky Vernon huh?” Lance rolled his eyes. “I tried hitting on her once in fifth grade and she said 'wouldn't touch some low class punk' before insinuating I just wanted to steal her wallet and gettin' Gary Quill to try bashing my head in."

Todd snickered. "Joke was on her, I was the one that stole the wallet AND you broke Quill's nose."

"Yeah. You caused me a heap of trouble that day, Toad. But it was worth it.” Lance smirked at the memory.

"She *seems* the type to pull that sort of stunt." Morgan snorted. "that's right. There were three of 'em. Becky, blondie and the brunette."

Callisto had pulled down a sidestreet, towards a liquor store.

"Oh is that so?” Dorian tented his fingers. “Ladies and gentlemen, we have an opportunity, and it's right in our neighborhood."

"Is it the liquor store?" Callisto asked dryly. "Because I hope you have your orders ready. We're almost there."

Morgan glanced at Dorian with a wide grin "...really? what kind of opportunity?"

Dorian tapped his nose with a sly look.

 "*I* know where Becky and her girls are going to be right now. Callisto, dear, a detour if you would. Club Calamity."

Todd perked up. "Shit, we're goin to Calamity?"

"You always know where to find the worst company, Dorian." Callisto shook her head. She turned away from the liquor store and down another street.

"Oh *hell* yeah." Lance grinned and leaned over to punch Dorian on the shoulder. "You rock, dude."

Dorian gave Lance a little bow, in his seat.

"What the hell's Calamity?" Morgan asked, cocking her head .

"Calamity's a dance club, yo,” Todd piped up. “But like, for kids!"

"The term is 'all ages club', Toad dear," Dorian corrected.

"For kids!" Todd insisted with a grin.

Morgan giggled into her hand.

"Oh you guys are *funny*." She smirked and waved her hand. "Why don't we get down to this *kidz bop club* and scope it out."

"It really is cooler than Todd's makin it sound." Lance said, almost desperately

"It's a seedy dance club with a strictly BYOB policy." Callisto murmured "so it can market itself to teens.'

"Gotta get a percentage of those trust fund allowance dollars, am I right?" Todd snickered.

"They *do* host excellent live bands," Dorian shrugged "I'm rather hoping to play there sometime. And Callisto's right, it's very enjoyably seedy."

Morgan snickered softly, before nodding her head. 

"It sounds like fun, honestly." she paused. "You play, Dorian?"

Callisto pulled off to the side of the road, parking near a large building decorated in deep red neon reading *CALAMITY*. It appeared to be an old, renovated cathedral, with it's stained glass replaced with murals of dancing, musical notes, and fire.

"A little," Dorian beamed, "I also sing."

Todd hopped out of the car, right over Morgan, and pulled the door open for her.

Morgan bowed her head with a sly smile "what a gentleman." She purred, and slipped out onto the street. "and I'd like to hear you sing sometime, Dorian."

Calamity shut the car off and locked it. "Careful what you wish for, Morgan."

"Trust me, if Todd's a gentleman, I'm the king of fucking France." Lance snorted.

Todd pouted at him. “Aw, c’mon…”

"Oh I'm *sure* a performance can be arranged," Dorian purred."Hold on a moment though, we should come up with a plan before we approach the bitch squad- don't you think?"

"I could formulate something, I suppose..." Callisto nodded, closing her eyes. 

But Morgan put her hand on Callisto's shoulder, and grinned 

"...No...no I have a *perfect* plan." She turned to the others "how would you like to give those airheaded harpies the *scare of a lifetime?*"