"Everyone ready?" Morgan asked. "We all have to focus. We can't afford to mess up or do the wrong thing. Every one of us has a specific task here, and we're all given our tasks based on our abilities. Everybody got that? Good. Now let's go."
We were all ready, but none of us really knew what we were up against. Lilith had a tendency to step away and figure everything out, since she was indecisive. Carmen acted like she knew what she was doing, even though it was obvious that she was overwhelmed, and Morgan had trouble with people, since she was so shy. Of course, I didn't know what I was getting into, so I was given the smallest task: drinks.
We immediately split up, each going to our designated area. Lilith went to the back, Carmen veered right, Morgan was in the right, and I darted left. Soon, we couldn't really tell where anyone was, or what they had. Halfway to the drink area, I realized that I didn't know what anyone wanted, so I had to run to Morgan and get orders. When she told me what she needed, I ran to Carmen, then over to Lilith after Carmen said what she wanted. Lilith was in the back, trying to decide what would be best when I saw her.
"Is everything alright?" I asked. "You seem kind of out of it right now. Is there anything I can do to help?"
"Hm? Oh, no I'm fine. Thank you, though." she began. "I'm just trying to figure out what to get. This isn't my first time doing this, but I still don't know what would be best."
"Don't worry about it too much. Morgan chose you for this job for a reason. Just follow your gut. Not that you have much of one, if at all. Wow, you're skinny. Sorry. Just an observation. Anyways, you got this. Even if you don't believe in yourself, Morgan does. So do I, and Carmen does too… I think. You never can tell with her. I gotta go finish my part. Oh, and Lilith? If you don't think you made the right choice, I'll help you afterwards. We can always come back if we need to. Alright?"
Lilith tried to suppress a smile, but as I started to turn, a smile unlike any I've ever seen broke on her face, getting rid of any worries I had at the time. She saw me staring, and immediately looked down. When she did, I remembered what I was doing, and started walking away. Not without a quick glance back at her, of course.
"Jacob?" I heard Morgan's voice yell. "You over here?"
"Yep!" I yelled back. "Right over here."
Morgan came around the aisle just as I managed to grab her green tea, and already had Lilith's coke and Carmen's iced coffee in my hands. I made sure to get mine last, since I had no idea what to get.
"All set?" she asked.
"Almost." I replied. "Again, I've never been here before, so I'm not exactly sure what they have. I'll just be a minute more, I promise. This won't take long."
As soon as Morgan left, I saw someone dart towards her and hide behind a shelf. His reflection through the glass doors in front of the cold drinks was all I could see, but I could tell it was a guy. As I carefully set down the bottles, I saw Morgan turn towards him without seeing him. Not that it was too hard to see him, or anything. He donned a black hoodie and black athletic pants with two silver lines on the outsides of each leg. His clothes seemed to self-adjust to him, because they fit almost perfectly. There was still room to move and breathe, of course, but they wouldn't have slipped or moved too much. It was as if he had them designed specifically for himself. His shoes were black as well. Black high tops that had a silver shooting star on both sides. This symbol was on his jacket as well, but the one on his jacket alternated with six layers, starting with black, and ending with silver.
As if he had all of this planned out, which he probably did, he also had black fingerless motorcycle gloves on. His mask, however, was something of a surprise. Of course, it still had the typical black and silver that was on the rest of his suit, but he donned a full silver face mask with a black outline, complete with black lattice across the mouth, as if his mask was sewn shut. There was a black mesh over the eyes, slightly covering them. Something felt off, and I had that same overwhelming sense that I used to have when I was younger. Lilith looked over at me as I started to stumble, and saw me. She whispered something, and I could just barely make out what she said.
"Carmen…" she began, almost frantically. "He's back. Over by Jacob."
Jacob? Are you alright? Lilith said there's someone near you, and you almost fell. What happened? I heard Carmen's voice ask.
"Who… wait, you'll hear my thoughts." I whispered.
Okay, let's try this again. I thought. Who is he? Don't act like you don't know who I mean. I know you know him. Lilith told you that he was back, so you have to know who he is. Wait... That's Junior, isn't it? It has to be him! Unless you know any other villains. You don't know any more villains, do you?
No, I don't, and yes it's him. Now focus. Are you going to be able to make it out of here? You almost fell again earlier. Is everything okay? We don't want you to get hurt, she thought, inching her way closer to me.
Oh, I'm fine, I thought as I began to kneel. That happens sometimes. I get overwhelmed, and it feels like someone or something wants to hurt me. It's sort of a sixth sense, I added. I'm okay now though, I promise. Wait… Where's Morgan?
"Son, is everything alright? Can I help you find anything, or are you just looking for now?" I heard a man's voice ask.
I turned to see the owner walking towards where Junior had been, with something in his hand. Suddenly, and without warning, Junior appeared in front of the man, now holding the object that had just been in the owner's hand.
"H-how did y-you get that…?" the man asked, now backing away from Junior. "I… I was just h-holding it."
"'Was' being the key word." Junior retorted with a smirk. "But if you want the broom, I'll give it to you." he said, wielding it menacingly.
In one smooth motion, he spun the broom so that the top of the handle was away from the store owner, and snapped the end off. Pointing the sharp end toward the man, he lunged at him. Just as the jagged edge pressed against the owner's shirt, it dissipated, reappearing behind Junior a few seconds later.
"What the…? W-who are you?" the owner asked, trying not to stammer as he slowly backed away.
Junior glared at the man, his face falling. He seemed almost irritated, as though the man asked a question that he should've known the answer to.
"The name's Roadrunner. But I could ask you the same thing… Who are you?" he asked pointedly, jabbing the man in the chest with his finger. "It's not everyday you see someone that can do something like that."
"What do you mean? I thought that was you!" the man responded, growing more and more petrified, as his face turned a whiter shade of pale. "It must've been one of those teens that came in here earlier."
As he said this, he looked over towards me, and I made the universal "stop" sign by dragging my hand back and forth across my throat.
"But they left a minute or two ago, just before you walked in. Maybe they were still outside?" His voice started to sound less afraid, and more curious. "If so, then they probably still are. Unless I have some newfound power." he said with a chuckle. "That'd be pretty neat though, wouldn't it? To find out that I have a new power, after all these years? Wow, I wonder if I could do that again."
As if he truly believed that he was the one who had the ability, he took a pen out of his pocket, and threw it straight up in the air. He made a motion, as if trying to control "his" ability with a hand blast, before the pen hit him in the head, as Junior rolled his eyes.
"Whatever, old man. You're just trying to distract me, so they'll get away. But that's fine." he said, as a smirk slowly spread across his face. "No matter how fast they are, I'll still find them. I always do."
He took off, disappearing just as fast as he had run in. Carmen stared off after him, as though in a daze. When we were all sure that he was gone, and wouldn't be coming back, we left our hiding spots. As if he was completely unfazed by what he had just witnessed, the owner smiled at us, looking from Carmen to Lilith, then Lilith to me, and from me to—
"Morgan! What are you doing here? When did you come in? I…I didn't see you…" His face fell as he pieced together everything that happened, and came to the realization that she had been there the entire time, and saw everything. "Wait, you walked in with the rest of these people. Alright." he began, looking at me. "Which one of you did the thing with the broom handle?"
Morgan looked at me, as if to make sure I was okay with her telling him, before speaking up.
"Sorry, Uncle Chris. I'll make sure I'm more careful next time. But I had Jacob to protect me. He's the new neighbor I was telling you about. The one from London."
"Oh, so you're the boy Morgan's always telling her mother about?" he asked, glaring daggers at me.
Everyone's eyes turned from him to Morgan, as if we were all searching for an answer in her expression. Just as Morgan opened her mouth to say something, her uncle busted out in a fit of laughter. Everyone realized what had happened, and Morgan playfully punched him in the arm.
"You know, you really are awful sometimes. You know that? I haven't even said anything like that about anyone. Besides, I'm sure you have your own secrets… Isn't that right, Freeze Frame?"
Everyone in the room froze as Morgan accused her uncle of being Freeze Frame, the superhuman that had been around for centuries. The same person who had stories told about him since the nineteenth century. Freeze Frame was the first known superhuman. His face fell as the words escaped Morgan's mouth, unable to be taken back or unsaid.
"You know I don't go by that name anymore. I left that life behind me. That's why I didn't stop that teenager. I could've easily slowed down time as he did that. It wouldn't have been that hard to stop him. Speaking of which, I'm guessing you," he said, facing me, "were the one that stopped him from killing me? Thank you for that, but you didn't have to."
My breath caught in my throat as he thanked me. Trying to get over my inability to think or say anything, I just stared blankly and uttered 'you're welcome' to him, as I stood there, dazed. Freeze Frame, the first known superhuman, was thanking me… and I just saved his life. This realization hit me, almost knocking me back. But what if he didn't want to be saved? If he wanted to get away from Junior, he could've. Then he wouldn't have needed saving.
"Jacob, chill out. He wasn't being sarcastic, he was genuinely thanking you." Carmen began, as if trying to reassure me. "He could've saved himself, but he didn't want to expose himself and be forced to move for the eighth time. He just said you didn't have to because he's been around for so long that it wouldn't have bothered him in the slightest if he was hurt. In the time he's been here, he's learned to slow down the speed of something, like his heart rate, and he could've survived in a comatose-like state for at least an hour."
"So, you're the mind reader, huh? Morgan's told me about all of you. And to answer any questions you may have, yes I was born in the nineteenth century. No, I'm not her actual uncle. No, I don't age at the same rate as everyone else. One year to me is about a century to you. I'm two-hundred and thirty-two as of last week, but only twenty-three at my rate. I've had these powers since I was twenty-one, which is why I still look like this. Yes, I was born in London." he continued, looking at me. "But I've traveled since then, which is why I'm known in all six inhabited continents. But I go by different names in each language." he explained.
"So, you're over two-hundred years old, look like you're twenty-three, and had 'abilities' at twenty-one? Seems like you'd be an actor." Lilith remarked with a laugh.
"I was for a little while. That was my ideal career, back in London. I only had a few minor roles though." Chris began.
"Oh, so none I would know, then? There aren't too many movies in London that I know about, but I may know one or two."
"Well, I may have had the lead in one, but it's been so long that I can't remember. It had to have been sixty years ago. But it seems so long to me, after all this time."
"Has anyone ever put two and two together, and realized who you are?"
"Aside from my family, only one person. My best friend, Josh. Josh Jones. At least, he was my best friend. But that was a while ago."
"What happened? Did you two get into an argument, or did he die from old age?"
"Both, in a way. We did get into an argument, and he did die, but it wasn't from old age. We were both actors. We got all of our acting gigs together. He's the one that pushed me to pursue acting. I got caught up in the fame, and it went to my head really quickly. I decided that I wanted to try doing a movie on my own, and quit the one Josh and I had both been working on, nearly putting him out of a job. We got into a heated argument that night, and he left the set early. He would go for runs to clear his head. I tried to call him later that night, in an attempt to apologize for what I had done, but he didn't pick up, so I never got to apologize."
"Well why don't you apologize to him now?"
"When I called again the next morning, his wife picked up. I could hear the kids laughing in the background. He had two sons, both in fourth grade, and a daughter, who was just starting kindergarten. His wife seemed upset when she answered, and when I asked her if she knew where Josh was, she started crying. He was running down Pinnacle Street when he took a break to tie his shoe, and stopped on the side of the road. It was late, and Josh was wearing black. The driver never saw him there, and eighteen-wheelers can't stop on a dime. He died on impact, and a biker came across his body a few hours before I called. What was left of it, at least."
All four of us stood in utter dismay at what Chris said. None of us knew what it was like to lose someone to Death, let alone a best friend. Morgan was the only one that came close, but her father wasn't dead. At least, not to the extent of our knowledge. But even then, neither Carmen nor Lilith had lost a best friend or family member, and I've only ever lost a dog that we had for ten years, from the day she was born, up until the day she died. Finally, after what seemed like an hour, Morgan spoke up.
"Even now, that story still gets to me. I wish one of us had the ability to time travel, or the intellect to build a time machine, so we could've prevented that from happening." she said, trying not to tear up.
"It is what it is." Chris began. "Obviously, it happened for a reason. I feel terrible about it, but we can't change it. It's not so much whether we could, but whether we should. Even the slightest change could alter history, and affect something much more massive."
"Like the snowball effect." I added.
"Exactly. The fact is, we can't always predict what's going to happen, and we can't change it. I've dealt with a lot of deaths in my life. I was there when my parents died. I was there when my wife died. I was there when my kids died. I've lived long enough to know that we're born, we do what we need to do, and then we go on. I'm not sure what happens after that, but I know that something happens."
One life, two life, no life, new life." I commented without thinking about what I had said. "Sorry, too dark?"
"I know we all cope and make light of things in different ways, but that… that was something else. How did you manage to come up with that?"
"I'm not sure, it just came naturally to me." I said, shrugging.
"Sure it does. Just like trigonometry, right?"
"Exactly! I don't see what everyone finds so difficult about it! And… you were being sarcastic, weren't you?" I responded, seeing Morgan shake her head.
"Wait, you actually understand trigonometry? What, do you understand British Literature too? 'Cause if so, help…"
"Hey, Jacob? Where are you from again?" Carmen asked, staring directly at Morgan.
"Oh, right." Morgan replied. "Well… Oh, shut up, Carmen! You couldn't just let it be once? I swear…" Morgan trailed off, her annoyed expression becoming a smile.
"Hang on, I have a question." Carmen interrupted. "If you're from London, how come you don't talk like British people?"
"I may be from London, but my grandparents weren't. They were actually from Louisiana, which is why I moved here of all places. They grew up speaking American English, and they spoke it to my parents. They passed that down to our family, so we don't sound like everyone expects us to. Trust me, you're not the first to ask. I got talked to about that in school a lot more than I'd like to admit."
"Oh. Well that makes sense. Sorry, Morgan. Continue."
"Anyways…" Morgan began, clearing her throat. "Do we have any idea what we're going to call ourselves? I mean, if we're gonna be a team, we have to have a team name. And teams don't keep any secrets. Anyone wanna get a secret or two off their chest that they think the rest of us should know?"
"I mean, it's not exactly a secret," Chris began, "but I do kind of have a way with tech. Benefits of living through two centuries of advancements."
"That could help. Every team has a 'guy behind the computer.' Might as well seem official."
"As for the team name, how about Motley Crew?" I suggested.
"Why not?" Morgan began. "I mean, we're teenagers, we all know what Motley Crüe is, and it's a play on words from my favorite band."
"Lilith, don't you have a Motley Crüe shirt? They're one of your favorite bands too, aren't they?" Carmen asked pointedly.
Lilith and I locked eyes for not even a second, before she turned away. She tried to conceal it, but I could see a light red color beginning to cover her face.
"Hmm? Oh, yeah. It's a grey one, I think. One of them is, at least. I have a black one, but it's kinda short, so I just wear it as a sleeping shirt. That's the one you bought me, isn't it?" Lilith responded after a few more seconds of silence.
"Well I'd hope so! It's a crop top. It's supposed to be short." Carmen retorted.
"Sorry you have to suffer through this, Jacob. You're probably really uncomfortable." Morgan interrupted. "But you have a sister, so you know how it is. Anyways, have we all decided on a team name? Uncle Charles? Does Motley Crew sound good?"
"I've lived through two centuries of music, and rock was always my favorite, especially eighties and nineties rock is definitely my favorite. Seems good enough a name as any." he responded. "But are you sure you wouldn't prefer Misfits? I mean, your powers are all different. One of them is mental, one is physical, one is natural, and the other is physiological. Well, to an extent."
"That makes sense. So it's settled. We're the Misfits now?" Morgan asked.
"Right. We may all be different, but that just means we all have different areas of expertise." I replied. "So when it comes to helping people... we just might make it work."
"I hope so." Lilith added. "Again, that's why we're here. But in the meantime, can I just pay for my pretzels? 'Cause I may or may not have already finished them."
We all turned towards Lilith to see an empty bag of pretzels in her lap, and a bottle of coke in her hand. She already had another bag, this one unopened. After taking a few seconds to pay for the stuff we bought, we rode back to our "base" and tried to figure out everything we needed, both for the team, and ourselves individually.
"So we need suits and names, but I can't think of anything else. We should probably come up with names as we go, because suits are more important. We can come up with names later on." Morgan suggested.
"Actually," Lilith began, "I already had a name thought out. I was thinking of Silhouette for my name, since my silhouette changes every time I use my ability."
"That's actually a fitting name. I thought this was supposed to be hard. I better step up my game, I guess. Any names you could suggest for me?" Morgan asked, as if she had no idea what to call herself.
"You can control nature, so let's see��� Fauna, maybe? Or Flora, but those are the only two I can think of, unless you want to go with the name of a flower or something. Rose, maybe?"
I spoke up, offering another suggestion. "If you wanted to bring a little culture to it, you could go by Gaea. But I doubt most people would get it."
"Fauna, huh? Not bad… Not bad at all."
"Carmen? Do you have any idea what you're gonna call yourself?" I asked, trying not to seem like she was being excluded.
"Well, I was thinking something along the lines of Mastermind, but it's a toss-up between that and Head Rush. Neither of which are that good. I'll keep working on it. Maybe Athena, since she's the Greek goddess of wisdom? But I don't know everything, just what other people are thinking. Do you have any idea what you're gonna call yourself, Jacob?" Carmen responded curiously.
"I'm not entirely sure, but I'm probably going to go with Dark Matter or Gray Matter. Depends on what color my suit will be. Assuming I can design my suit and have it black or silver. If not, I'll cross that bridge when the time comes. But until then, we need to start on the suits. And fast."