Re-Evolution: Episode 2: In the Blood

The rest of the day wore on slowly for Morgan. Classes at Giles Corey High were larger and louder than in Red Oak, but otherwise much the same tedium. Finally, at the end of the day she was free to meet up with Darcy at the bulletin board to check the cheer results.

Shouldering her bag, Morgan approached the board with a mix of excitement and trepidation.

Her lips tightened as she leaned in to read the printout nestled among other mundane announcements. There weren’t too many other students craning their necks at the moment, it seemed she was either one of the first or last to get there.

"We better get in. I forgot my veils."

As Morgan's eyes scanned the list they found her name right at the top, with a star next to it. She found her new friend's name a little down the list, and just in time for the voice to pipe up behind her, "Are we in?"

"Holy shit." Morgan grinned, hiding her mouth with her hand as she turned to face Darcy. "We're in!! And I made Captain!!"

Darcy's mouth dropped open. "Holy shit! New girl makes good!! Congrats, Spooky!"

Morgan's face darkened in a blush, and she punched Darcy's shoulder. 

"Thanks , Darcy. Congrats to you ,too. You did *great*"

Darcy punched her shoulder back, her expression of surprise turning into one of delight. 

"Not as good as you, but I'll take it! Squee!"

Morgan clapped her hands together with an excited squeal of her own. 

"You know what this means, right??"

"I need to amazon a ritual knife asap?"

Morgan snickered softly. It seemed Darcy wasn’t about to let up on the witches goof. 

"Yep. And maybe a bucket of fake blood, you know. For ambiance."

"I love that we're going vegan for this coven, very earth conscious."

"What can I say," Morgan drawled. "You just can't find many good sacrificial lambs nowadays. I blame the ozone layer."

"What a shame. It's like they all got sacrificed or something.” She pushed up her glasses, smirking. “--but seriously. Stoked to be on the team with you."

Morgan laughed, brushing her hair out of her face.

"You know...me too." She grinned. "I think the two of us are gonna knock their socks off, Darcy. The rest of the team and the whole damn school."

"Heck yeah we are. I'm sure you can whip the rest of this team into shape. you *do* have a whip, right?"

"I might have one tucked away for just such an occasion."

"Knew I could count on you, cap," Darcy nodded. "So, we're celebrating right? Milkshakes? Ooo, bet you haven't been to the orange julius here, yet."

“You're damned right we're celebrating." Morgan nodded. She paused a moment before she asked, "...what's an orange julius?"

Darcy’s mouth dropped open in surprise for the second time in the last few minutes.

"Oh no, this is absolute *emergency*," Darcy declared. "That's it, get your stuff. We're heading out to fix this."

Morgan felt a surge of hype; *incredibly* into the idea. 

"It's a plan, to cel...e.." With a low groan, she facepalmed as she remembered that it wasn’t going to work. Not if she wanted to appease her brother-- and keep her plan with Todd,  "Damn it, sorry Darcy. Think we can get a rain check and maybe celebrate tomorrow? I've got some tour I have to do after school today. Something for my brother."

"Well, it doesn't sound like fun plans, so I'm not offended," Darcy promised with wry humor. "Not ideal, but I can roll with it. We'll do lunch. Or well, probably closer to dinner, technically.

"It's a plan." Morgan gave her a fist bump. "Pencil it in: Celebratory After school Orange julius and ritual sacrifice with the squad"

Darcy pulled out her phone and tapped a message. "Consider it penciled Like, seriously, I put it in my calendar!"

Morgan pointed at her as she headed towards the door. 

"And don't forget the ritual knife. It's gonna be *majorly* important for the first practice session." 

"...oh my god, we need a knife?" An almost ghostly pale girl with hip length silky blond hair gasped from nearby. "I don't think I *have* one!"  The girl rushed off, in a bit of a hurry..presumably to take steps to fix that.

Darcy watched her go. "Well. That's gonna either be a meme or a murder. Stay tuned next week to find out which one."

Morgan made a 'box' with her fingers, as if it were a tv screen 

"Be sure to tune into our after-episode discussion hour, GCHS Or Bust , only on Fox."

"Ew, Fox."

"What other station would air this trash?" Morgan snickered.

Darcy appeared to think about it, "Eh, probably the CW. --so when's your tour thing? Should I let you head to the jungle cruise?"

"It's pretty much right after school, so I'm gonna have to head out." Morgan fussed with her hair. "Looking forward to tomorrow, though. See you later, Darcy!"

000

"Aha! You thought you could escape from me, eh, Callisto?" Dorian demanded with a wide grin, as he threw himself at her from practically halfway across the parking lot.

Callisto turned, twisting her body to catch him with one hand, and pull him into a scoop.  

"Why Dorian. I didn't think you cared." She said in a quiet monotone.

He threw an arm around her shoulders. "Frankly, my dear, I *do* give a damn."

Callisto looked down at him, nodding firmly. 

"My heart melts. Or something. I didn't think I was your type."

"The heart wants what the heart wants, Callisto, dear." He chuckled and gave her a teasing wink. "I *was* hoping you might have a gaping, irishman-shaped hole in your afternoon."

Callisto gently set him down, shaking her head. 

"Sorry. Hole's already filled. I have something I have to take care of." 

She pointed down towards a nearby manhole in the street. 

"You know how it is."

Dorian followed her gaze. 

"Ahh, yes, a pity but I quite understand. Duty calls."

"Duty calls." She clapped him on the back "Maybe tomorrow, huh?"

"You have but to ask," he promised and clapped her in return. "In the meantime I'll find some other way to waste away my long evening."

Callisto gave him a salute, heading towards the cluster of shops opposite the school. 

"Godspeed, soldier."

000

Greg pulled into view of the sprawling gated estate, glancing from it to his GPS.

"Well, I'm pretty sure that this is the right place."

Morgan, who had been  strangely both quiet *and* in a good mood the whole way, leaned out the window to get a better look as they approached the front gate of the mansion "Hot damn it's big."

"Right? It's like a college campus," Greg boggled. "I wasn't expecting *this*."

Before them loomed Charles Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters. WIth it's high windows and columned entrance, it was more like a duel-winged manor house than a school, and the perfectly landscaped lawn, with it's sparkling blue pond and meticulous topiary didn't do much to dissuade that initial impression. And behind it, despite the school hiding most of it from view, they could see the grounds stretch on and on towards the woods behind. 

Morgan whistled. 

"...neither was I...this is nuts, Greg..."

"Hot damn. Hell of a first impression, huh?" Greg murmured as he pulled up to the gate.

Morgan nodded, leaning back into her seat. 

"It's kind of intimidating, honestly."

"I would have dressed up if I'd known. Kinda like it though."

Actually, Greg had dressed up. For Greg, anyway. He was in a leather jacket instead of his letterman, and had a nicer pair of jeans on than usual. Morgan had kept the same outfit from school, though she freshened up her makeup in the rearview mirror before they pulled out of the parking lot. 

But now she was wishing she'd done something a bit more...dramatic.

Greg took a deep breath as he turned the car off. He looked up at the grounds again, and at the tall gate that separated them from them. 

"Big gate they have there."

"Yeahhh. Wonder what they're trying to keep out, eh?" she joked; or at least half joked.  "...Why don't we go ring the bell?"

He nodded, and hopped out of the car, adjusting his jacket self consciously. He waited for Morgan to follow him, and strode up to the gate, his own thoughts echoing his sister's question.

Morgan followed him, her hands folded behind her as she glanced up at the iron fence. "Think they had second thoughts about letting us in?"

"More like I think there's an intercom," he said. He looked for one to push.

By the edge of the gate there was a top of the line intercom with a call button and a little screen.

"Maybe...maybe.' Morgan glanced over her shoulder, looking briefly hopeful before she glanced back. "Wanna hit the button?"

"I'll chance it, yeah," he said dryly. He pressed the button. "Uh.... hello?"

There was a brief moment before the screen flickered on. On the other end was a smiling woman of indeterminate age, perhaps in her 20's. Blond hair cascaded over her shoulders, and around her soft featured face. She had on dramatic makeup, with bright blue eyeshadow and liner done up like an 80's glam queen , inlaid with sparkling glitter that made her eyes really 'pop'. They could see her from the shoulders up, and could make out that she was wearing a white leather jacket with a large yellow diamond 'starburst' shape on her breast. 

"Hey there! Looks like the Professor was right about some new arrivals! Greg and Morgan, right?"

"That's us," Greg nodded, staring at the image of the woman with bemusement She seemed vaguely familiar, despite her rather astonishing outfit. "This is, uh, the institute, right?"

"That's right," the woman chirped, winking at him over the camera. "I'll get the gate open and meet you out front. I'm your tour guide for today!"

She snapped her fingers, and up twirled a few sparkling and pulsing rainbow-colored lights, which swirled in the air before vanishing. 

"Hold tight, alright?"

"Yeah, sure, we'll sit tight. Uh, thanks, ma'am." Greg nodded dumbly. 

The line clicked off-- and immediately the gate slowly began to open in towards the school. 

Morgan whistled. 

"Pretty lady, wasn't she? Loved that makeup. She looked like she stepped right out of a 80's glam cover or something"

"Yeah like, right out of a music video and everything," he agreed, trying to place where he’d seen her before. ‘Kind of clashes with the decor around here’, he thought, but wouldn't say it aloud just in case the intercom was still active.

"Actually," Morgan mused, "she kinda looked a little familiar..." 

As the gates opened, the same woman came hurrying out the front door of the school, dressed in a white and blue trimmed leather jacket with rhinestones and that starburst icon on it's breast, and a pair of flared bell bottom pants in matching white and blue. She waved to them excitedly.

Greg's gaze was arrested by the bell bottoms. That was... a choice, certainly. He yanked his view back up and waved back at her. 

"Hey, uh, thanks for having us."

The woman waved back, and put her hands on her hips with a grin. 

"I'm Ali, Alison Blaire!" She put her hand on her chest "I was one of Professor Xavier's students a while back, but now I'm on staff as a teacher."

Morgan suddenly snapped her fingers and pointed. 

"Oh! I know you! you're Dazzler! " she gushed suddenly "I remember when you were huge. Our mom bought, like, a bunch of your CD's!"

Greg blinked as the image snapped into his mind too. "Oh no way. Dazzler? THE dazzler?"

Greg only remembered her as a kind of dorky face on his mom's abandoned stack of weird and retro looking cds. And she HAD to be older than she looked.

Dazzler fluffed out her hair, beaming from ear to ear. 

"That's right. the one and only sparkling superstar, Dazzler!"  She winked, and pointed at them with a long, painted nail. "And if you two decide you want to stay .... your teacher!"

"in uh, what?" Morgan asked "music theory?"

"I had no idea you were.... uh... you know," Greg admitted, more than a bit awkwardly.

"A mutant?" Alison said with a warm smile. "No, most people didn't...even if I was more open than most about the powers I have. Iit's a wonder what 'trade secrets' can explain away." 

"Well shit...that explains those pyrotechnics, I guess." Morgan mused. "That's neat. Our mom would have been pumped to meet you, Ms. Blaire."

"She's not dead," Greg added hastily at Morgans dire phrasing. Just not.... here."

Alison put her hand over her heart. 

"Oh good, for a moment there I was worried about you two!"  She shook her head. "Well. I'm certain if you decide to join us she'll get the chance to meet me soon-- at a parent teacher conference.' 

"So..I'm taking away from this that there's going to be a lot of extra classes?" Morgan asked

"I mean they did kinda call it a school, Morgan, " Greg chuckled.

"Well...yeah…." Morgan huffed, pouting at him "I got that, but..."

Alison gently pat each of them on the shoulder. 

"There's a few extra lessons, sure." Her smile had a playful edge. "But they're sure not the sorts of things they'll teach you at GCHS." 

Dazzler looked over her shoulder, "We were waiting for one more...but..."

"Oh, one more?" Greg cocked his head. Ororo hadn’t mentioned that anyone else was going to be coming. "Someone's a no-show?"

Dazzler pulled out a tablet , glancing at it with a purse of her lips as the gates started to close "Yes...a student that we've been trying to convince to give us a shot for some time now..."

Morgan rubbed the back of her neck. 

"Wow, what a coincidence...maybe we should, you know...wait for them?"

"I mean, I don't wanna be rude but we can't wait around *all* day and waste Miss Dazzler's time," Greg shrugged. As far as he was concerned he couldn’t wait for the tour to start.

"Eeehh...." Morgan glanced over her shoulder. "I guess we shouldn't...but..it seems rude."

"We can always send another teacher to give him a tour of his own if he shows up!" Allison chirped. "Come on, kiddos. It's showtime!"