Comic Revolution Inside. 

Where had the name come from? Legends spoke of a thousand possibilities, but the one that was uttered most? A post it note stuck on the front door, meant to inspire as the comic shop was first being built. It lived up to its name. Standing there, in the back, back, back of the shop, where only the managers and cool kids hung out, Xavier looked out of a back room window over the rows and rows of comic book shelves, ranging from expensive displays to cardboard boxes one could rummage through.

Paradise. 

A hand reached up and landed on his shoulder, pulling him from his daydreamy moment. "And so I said to him, Darrin, buddy, I know first edition, and that- heh, That is NOT first edition." The hand was attached to a thirty something year old man, sporting black framed glasses, a fedora, a pony tail, and a Hawaiian shirt. The current owner of CRI, the man, the myth, the legend, Derrick 'The Guru' Rolf. At first sight, he seemed like any other geek savant that held doors open for women and called them M'lady as they passed, and he did do those things, but his sheer comic mythos knowledge made him undeniably cool in Xavier's eyes. 

The tall blonde chuckled, having missed the story, but getting the general gist. Darrin was always in trying to sell bootleg comics to the Guru. The back room consisted of the DnD table, walls covered in comic book art and posters layered upon each other, and a computer desk littered with research on upcoming plotlines and fan theories. Sitting at the table was a tall, scrawny young man in a blue torch shirt, Ethan, and a mousy woman writing on a laptop, Leara. "So, mister One in a Million, would you be interested in certain rumors floating about in relation to... the newest brown recluse story line?" The much shorter, much rounder man adjusted his glasses, which glinted as he looked down and away, a smirk in his face.  

"Would I! What did you hear?! Will she be fighting the Inoculator like Ethan keeps saying?" "Heh heh... Oh, Ethan's theories are outdated as always..." "Hey!" "No, a little bird working in animation at Velmar told me... we might expect a more... classic approach." Xavier's eyes widened as the hint hit him like a ton of bricks. "Th- The CRIPPLER?!" 

The room lit up in a buzz of opinions and nerd knowledge one-uppings in the form of "Um, Actually"s, before being suddenly silenced by the front door bell dinging on its chain. Someone came in? But... everyone was here?

 

A nerd haven. Of course. Why would she be at all surprised that he was here of all places at this time of night?

Closing the little lace parasol she had brought with her for image (and because there was a knife hidden expertly in the handle) she let herself into the shop... which appeared empty at first. Where was everyone? Why in the back of course. She knew exactly where they were because she could see them if she so wished.

With her parasol hanging from one pale arm, she headed slowly for the back, taking time to at least look at the wares on various shelves as she passed. Her older self had apparently been a fan, and she could see the appeal, but current her had never dabbled. At least not yet. There was too much to learn. Too much to catch up on, and it didn't help that her.. hobby, tended to sap away all of her extra time.

Her heel delicately clip-clopped as she went, polished black babydoll shoes that were perhaps a bit taller than originally intended. Megan was already fairly tall for her age at 5'6, but the heels put her at a solid 5'9". Where she had once been shy about her height, now she rather enjoyed looking down at those shorter than her.

A solitary door at the back led to her destination, and after peeking through the eyes of the spider inside, she was rather amused to see them all looking her way.

With a slow twist and a swing, she let herself inside the secluded back room and laid her luminous eyes on the inhabitants inside. Standing in the doorframe with the light from behind a stark contrast to the sheer amount of black on her, she stood out like a sore thumb from the rest of them. A black dress with sheer lace that hung to her knees with tendrils cinched at the waist with a faux corset and a splash of delicate spider web themed lace to cover her pale neck and shoulder.

She smiled, lips ruby red against pale white teeth with perhaps just a tiny trace of blood around the edges and brushed some errant black strands of hair from her eyes.

"Xavier. What a charming place you like to squirrel away in."

She glanced at the owner, who she had never met but knew was the owner, and offered a slightly wider smile. "I hope I am not intruding?"

Oh- Oh! "Oh!" Xavier's eyes lit up as he realized who it was.

"Megan!" "The Widow!" Oh, she was sort of dressed as a 91-98 style Widow from the Owlbearman comics, wasn't she? By the way, the second statement came from everyone in the room in unison other than Xavier. "Wait, you know her?"  "Yeah! She's my friend from school!" Ethan was standing, now, trying to make his way around the table, which made up most of the room. Liara was leaning into her laptop, wiping away a nose bleed. 

She sort of complimented the locale. "Thanks!" Derrick stepped forward. "Not at all, M'lady. Here for the latest Owlbearman Edition?" He adjusted his fedora, smiling wisely. "Always happy to have new guests, here in the... Revolution Sanctum!"

Xavier smiled widely, as Laira tucked away her handkerchief, which seemed to see heavy use for similar things, and Ethan stepped up to hold out his hand. "I'm in lo- I mean, I'm Ethan. Hi. Hello. I... Hi." 

"Megan, I didn't know you were interested in comics!"

"I wish I was, but unfortunately, I came for business. You run a fine store though, I must say." Though, even if that was the case, she had dressed up specifically for the job. The number of spider-themed comic book characters was numerous, and the outfits were quite tempting.

Ethan, as he was called, extended a hand to her and she willingly put hers in his. She had seen nothing of his character to judge him so far or any of them for that matter. "Hello Ethan. Nice to meet you." She glanced down at his shirt or tried to, but her eyes fixated on the throbbing vein in his neck and she... lost focus for a moment.

"I like your shirt. Limited edition, isn't it?" She had no clue. Hadn't even seen the design on his shirt yet. Forcing a blink, she turned her attention to the mousey one in the back who was peeking up over her laptop screen.

A well-timed wink was sent her way before she withdrew her hand from Ethans and turned her attention back to the reason she was there in the first place.

"Xavier... might I borrow you for a bit? I have a favor to ask."

"Why Thank you, M'lady." Derrick bowed slightly, and then turned to make himself scarce. He'd been around long enough to know when he was no longer needed in a conversation, and he had some snooping to get done! She'd reminded him that The Widow had a planned movie release that he needed to research. Before he went, however, as Megan talked to Ethan, he placed a hand on Xaviers shoulder, and looked him in the eyes.

"Go with strength, my friend, and may conquest guide you to victory." It was a quote from Moneyhammer2000K... Xavier had no idea why he'd chosen to speak it to him now, though.

Megan complemented Ethan's shirt, and asked if it was limited edition. His eye switched, and he quickly spit out an, "I do, I-I mean it is. Yes. From the Champions Run of 99... Are you- Uhm, I like- Uhm, Blue Torch." Was... Ethan okay? Xavier raised an eyebrow at him as he looked back, slowly turning beet red as he did. Did... He just mouth 'save me'?

"Oh, yeah! Is it about the math homework? E- Ethan, Laira was looking for you." "Yup! I heard her, just now, ask if I could go back there, didn't you? She totally said that! Bye, I love you- I mean, Nice to meet you."

He stumbled off into the back room with his palm firmly planted in his face.

"Heh... He seems nervous about something... Wonder what happened... Anyway, What can I help with, Megan?"

"I love you too, goodbye!"

Outwardly, she showed no signs of just how entertained she was with the guy's antics. She turned her eyes on Laira next, "I hope the pictures turned out okay! That third one looks really good if I do say so myself."

She turned on her heels and clip-clopped right back out the door with a dainty handwave, expecting Xavier to dutifully follow.

Once they were safely outside, she popped her parasol back open and let it rest on her shoulder.

"How familiar with the process of counterfeit money production are you, exactly?" She seemed to think better of it a moment later and wave her question off. "No, nevermind, that doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things.... Exactly how confident are you in your ability to protect someone from harm?"

She waited for her answer, expression set back in the hard to read poker face she always wore, unless something amused her.

"HHHHHnG!"

Xavier was lost. "You... Know Ethan?" Wow, Ethan had never mentioned he was dating someone, which was odd, because he seemed like someone who would definitely let everyone in the world know he was dating someone. Wait, he said nice to meet you? This... All made so little sense.

Megan spoke to Laira, who was in the other room, and he just sort of... blinked slowly a few times. Laira, on the other hand, froze in mid-post on a message board abojut this hot goth who had walked into the shop -see pics, may be blurry-, asking for what to do. Hit on her? What are some good opening lines?

Meanwhile. Lost. Absolutely lost.

He followed her out, looking back at the back room as Derrick calmly consoled the other two while they FREAKED THE FUCK OUT.

She asked him a strange question. "Not... Very?"

She asked him another question. "Very."

He paused and looked back at the doors of the comic shop, before turning and asking plainly. "Megan, what's going on?"

Megan smiled and twirled her parasol.

"I have come across some information that led me down a paper trail, to someone who might know some things about who I was before I was de-aged. The problem is that this person probably won't be very forthcoming with any answers he might have... and there is the possibility that things could turn... violent."

She pondered on how much to tell him, but... with this one honesty was probably key.

"Out of everyone I know you are the most accessible, and honestly the easiest to sway, so I would like to formally request that you accompany me to see this task done, as my bodyguard."

She held up a hand with freshly lacquered nails to stop him before he could rebuttal.

"And, before you say anything, let me make this clear. one; I am going regardless of what you say, and two; this is a chance for you to do some real good in the city, as well as a favor to me, and three; I will owe you a favor in return, that you can claim at any time, on my word."

She smiled and waited.

He watched her swirl her parasol, and got a distinct... Early Widow feel... You know, when she was a villain? He felt the need to keep a bit of distance. Until she started talking.

Oh. She... really needed help with something... serious, then? "Oh... You're looking in to those things?"

He raised at eyebrow as she explained why she'd chosen him. "Uhm...Okay... Well... Are you sure you want to do this, if it's dangerous? Is it worth people maybe getting hurt for you to find these things out?"

He could tell from her words and her patient smile that she wasn't bluffing. If she was going with or without him, he really didn't have a choice. "Are you just saying it that way because you know I'll come?" He sighed. "Don't worry about owing me any favors or anything... What are friend for?"

Yep. He was in. He was already dressed for it, too, he couldn't exactly use that as an excuse to slow her down. "But I have rules... No one dies... Minimum force necessary, and we avoid fights or unneeded confrontations if we can... Okay?"

"None of the people that will be involved happen to be anyone I would waste energy being concerned about. The numerous deadends I have encountered while trying to puzzle together who exactly I used to be and what exactly it was that I did for a living have led me here, and I refuse to give up now."

Was she saying that because she knew it would work? "Yes. Absolutely, that should be obvious."

...the friend comment threw her off a little, and she stared at him for a long, silent moment. "I don't have many of those yet, but... I suppose if you are offering the title I would be a fool not to take it."

Megan blinked at his.. um... rules. "I hope you don't expect me to be doing any fighting? I am not exactly the.. type, though I can defend myself to a degree. The whole point of me bringing you in on this was so that you would effectively be the battering ram for me. Of course, we would be following your rules if you are the one leading the charge."

Her eyes narrowed slightly, suspicious, and contemplating. "... did you invent those rules explicitly to try and keep your volatile girlfriend under some degree of control? I can't imagine it's working."

Ah, but that was another matter entirely. Megan pulled her phone from a slim little purse hanging from one shoulder, to check the time.

"We have half an hour to get to the site before the target gets there. I suspect he won't be alone, so we will need to stake the place out for a bit.

Turning toward the street, she waited to hail a cab.

Xavier looked a little concerned at her word choice as she explained further that she wouldn't be giving up. He hung his head as he followed. He couldn't exactly let Ethan's new eternal love go and get herself killed, could he? I mean, he couldn't let anyone get themselves killed.

He was a bit thrown off by her response to his friend statement. "Megan, you're already my friend. It wasn't an offer." He looked her up and down as she reminded him of what his eyes could tell...

She... Wasn't much of a fighter. "Okay, but what exactly are you planning? I can't exactly do this if it will get people needlessly hurt... and no, I didn't invent the rules for Elke... They just... also help a lot when she's around." He froze. "Dont... tell her I said that."

The rules were, of course, a variant of those found in the Hero HandbookTM.

He raised an eyebrow as she started talking time windows. Wow... This all felt very... secret agent-like, all of a sudden. "Um... So, we are just waiting for them? Who is them?"

A Cab stopped for her immediately, which gave Xavier pause, because they always took super long to snag when he was waving. Oh well, he burned more calories walking, anyway!

Taking a seat in the back, after holding the door open for her, he scratched the back of his head before frowning. "You know... Elke isn't as out of control as people say... She really tries... Just gets a little ahead of herself sometimes."

Again with that needlessly hurt thing. "What exactly do you think it is that I plan on doing? Punching the information out of people? I just painted my nails." She huffed, "I m really starting to question what kind of antics you get up to where you have to badger people relentlessly about if they intend on needlessly hurting people."

A cab pulled up and she slid inside, thanking both Xavier and the driver. She plugged in the directions with the cab services app and sat back in the seat.

"The target's name is Neil Spears. He's the head of the underground organization running this particular counterfeit ring. They specialize in passable large bills and from what I can tell supply them to other criminal organizations around the city for use." Her gaze slid Xavier's way, "From what I can tell from the meager bits of information I have found I used to work for or with him at some point in my adult life."

She paused, letting that sink in, "Yes... that means I was very possibly a criminal myself."

She still didn't know so much. Saph was tightlipped about various things and Mirror had known her older self as being mischievous to an illegal degree, but not outright criminal. So... she could only look at the pieces she had so far found and try to get a bigger picture from them.

"I know she isn't. She briefly wondered how much else to say... and if it was a bad idea. "I have seen her in various situations around the school that break that preconceived notion. But, that doesn't change the fact that she leans toward violence whenever possible, so my point still stands."

Digging in her purse again, she pulled out a little crinkled photo. It was of her older self; short hair, an entirely different face, and a very mean expression.

"Apparently at some point I was also like that. This is who I used to be. This is who those men inside the organization would know, and so I will be asking them, politely, if they had ever worked with her and how so." After she let him get his fill of the picture, she tucked it back away.

"The intention here is to find out the information I want, on top of putting this organization out of business and temporarily crippling some of the more prominent crime families in the area."

The teen grinned in a mischievous sort of way. "Hit them in the pocket book and all that jazz."

Xavier's hands went up as she got haughty at him. He waved them to the side as he spoke. "Okay, sorry... I just wanted to be sure!"

Xavier politely thanked the Cab driver for stopping before sitting next to the Widow lookalike. She got to business, talking about their mark. He kept that same, slightly concerned look on his face the whole time.

Until she mentioned she may have been a criminal. His jaw dropped, and he gasped. "No way! You're so nice!" He paused for a second, and tilted his head from side to side. "I guess I could see it, though."

The topic shifted to Elke. He couldn't help but be a little defensive for her. He nodded a bit. "I think it's a learned behavior... From... The Masochist. Seems like he only knows how to talk with his fists..."

She detailed her plans a little more, taking the picture to stare closely. "Huh... This looks... nothing like you. Are... You sure it's you? I mean, there isn't even a family resemblance."

Xavier nodded as she revealed her intentions. "Okay... This seems like... a lot. But. If you really won't take no for an answer... I'll help. Do you think... Maybe we should get more people involved? Are you sure you want to try to do this with just us two?" She'd admitted it would be mostly him, too. Sounded dangerous.

Megan just raised an eyebrow at him, waiting patiently for him to correct himself... which he did.

"Yes, he does tend to be one of the more violent x-men.. but no, I wouldn't say it's fair to blame her antic's solely on him. I know quite a bit about where she came from and she had always had a propensity toward things of a more violent nature. Not everyone is as... peacefully inclined as you."

"Saphirus, that is his name by the way, simply took her wild, chaotic energy and tried to teach her how to use it appropriately."

She paused, lips pursing, "Obviously he failed, but they butted heads quite a bit about his teaching methods, so it was only a matter of time."

The conversation moved along, "It was me. Apparently, I needed to hide from someone, so I found myself some back ally doctor and... well, that happened." She mumbled something under her breath about her older self not being the smartest, and moved along again.

"After I get the information I need, I do plan on bringing other people in. I have the local department on speed dial." She wasn't about to fish out her phone to show him; he'd just have to believe her. "I don't think it would be wise to involve anyone else when the information I am seeking probably involves illegal things I have done, and there is no guarantee that I will stay this age forever. I... would like to know, nonetheless, but I do have to try and protect myself a little... right?" She hoped that made sense. Involving anyone other than Mirror, Saph, and now Xavier just felt like unneeded danger.

"I hope you realize exactly how much I am trusting you with here. I was.. not a great person, apparently. According to Saph I had a change of heart toward the end before I de-aged, but up until that point I was someone who you would be trying to arrest."

For once, she let a little emotion slip out and frowned. "I never thought I would be capable of being that, and I feel like if I can figure out how my older self fell into that life, I can keep the current me out of it, for as long as I am like this."

She stepped in to defend the Masochist, sort of. Why did people do that? It was like, when ever someone criticized the man, someone was there to say something redeeming. He watched as the young woman spoke, raising an eyebrow.

"How do you... know so much about them? How do you know so much about anything? You're fifteen."

She went on to explain more about the photo. Slowly he nodded. "You... changed your face? Wow..." It was pretty cool, wasn't It? Secret agent sort of cool.

"Okay... I'll help. You aren't the person you turned out to be, and who knows, you may never be again! If I can help you find some peace, or evidence that you weren't as bad as you fear." He smiled warmly, nodding confidently. "Either way, I'm on your side. Like I sad. Friends."