Disclaimer: "Sheila! Come back! I'll make you muffins!"

(An: This is where I get into the canon tie-in, so sorry if I make a mistake or end up confusing; I've never done anything like this before. You can just imagine how Gambit fitted into the battle at the mall. That's too much hassle to write out.)

THE NEXT DAY

"C'mon Morph, we're gonna be late!" came Sam's voice.

Morph hopped the side of Scott's car and ended up next to Jamie. "Hi," he chirped, buckling his seatbelt.

Jamie was in kind of a funk because nobody else wanted to sit next to him. "What, no squirt?"

"Why would I? Nobody but me can help being vertically challenged," Morph pointed out.

Jamie blinked.

"You're short but it's not your fault."

"Oh... ok!" Jamie grinned at him.

AT BAYVILLE HIGH...

"New schools, new schools, how I love to hate new schools," Morph muttered, banging on his locker.

A blonde girl reached over and opened the locker for him. "New here, huh?"

"Is it that obvious?"

"You've got that 'oh-shit-I-have-no-clue-what-I'm-doing-look,'" said the blonde. "I'm Tabby. Tabby Smith."

"Morph."

"Morph?"

"It's my name. Now where the HELL is my first class?" he asked, staring at his schedule and blinking.

Tabby leaned over. "Oh, we've got first period together. You can hang with me and Amara."

"You know Amara?"

"Do you?"

"I live with her."

Tabby scowled. "Oh, boy, an X-geek."

"I like it there, so sue me."

Tabby shook her head and flicked her fingers in a come-hither gesture. Morph followed her down the hall with a shrug.

THAT NIGHT...

The New Recruits were all sitting in the common room, waiting for the seniors to come out and give them the details of their ass-kicking.

Scott stormed through the room, looking really pissed.

"Scott, wait up!" Jean called after him.

Scott ignored her.

Bobby prodded Morph. "Hey, you wanna contribute to the pool?"

Morph blinked. "What pool?"

"The betting pool on when they'll hook up. Pick the right week and you get the whole thing... and we're talking like two hundred bucks here."

"I would... but I'm broke. Being a bard of the roads doesn't pay well, apparently." Morph shrugged.

Bobby returned the gesture and slouched back on the couch next to Jubilee.

Then the rest of the seniors came in. Everyone except Kurt looked just about as pissed as Scott.

"We sucked, plain and simple," Evan muttered.

"Shut UP, Evan!" the rest of the seniors cried.

"I'm getting changed," Evan announced, and walked out.

Remy flopped down on the couch, crossing his legs.

"So..." said Jubilee, ever the gossip hound. She poked him.

Remy opened one eye, glaring at her. "What do y' feel is important enough t' interrupt m' rest t' ask me about?"

"What happened?" she and Bobby demanded in unison.

"We lost," Rogue replied. "Even though Evan's an idiot, he summed it up pretty well: we sucked."

"You guys lost... to the Brotherhood?" all of the New Recruits except Morph cried.

"...Who're the Brotherhood?"

"You had one of 'em showing you around today," Sam commented.

Amara kicked him. "I don't like the connotations of that. Tabitha's free to make her own choices."

"That hurt, you know."

"That was the idea, you jerk."

"Would ye leave him alone!" Rahne interjected.

Amara sniffed but shut up.

"Seriously, who are they?" Morph repeated.

"They're a bunch of idiots... and Tabby," said Bobby, adding the last part quickly as he noticed Amara's glare of death.

"Not anymore, they ain't," said Rogue. "They've got a new chick."

"A real putain (1)," Remy agreed.

"You only say that 'cause she, like, threw a piano at you," said Kitty.

"And..."

Kitty rolled her eyes.

"...A piano?" Bobby interjected. "What're her powers?"

"Dunno," said Kitty, "but she's, like, practically unstoppable. She can do, like, anything."

"Kit's right," Rogue agreed. "Whatever the hell her powers are, we just gotta hope she don't hold a grudge..."

THE NEXT DAY, IN THE WAR ROOM...

The training session had been a disaster. That's putting it nicely, Morph thought. He'd been tagged out early. He'd sucked, but in his defense, his powers were more stealth than asskick... that was his excuse and he was sticking to it.

What happened after it was even worse. Xavier was pissed, which was a new experience for most of the X-men.

"Rush him?" Xavier demanded of Scott.

Morph winced. This is NOT gonna be pretty...

"As if you're going to take him by surprise?"

"Professor, I-" Scott began, but the professor cut him off.

"Magneto is always two steps ahead. You will never take him by surprise."

And I thought Xavier was the telepath...

"Professor, what's going on? You've never pushed us this hard."

Good cop bad cop routine maybe?

"I needed to confirm my fears. You're not ready to take on Magneto."

"I disagree."

And on the comeback meter Scooter gets a zero... point two.

"You couldn't even take on the Brotherhood." Scott winced. This obviously rankled.

Ouch. Did he REALLY need to bring that up?

"Newer students- your inexperience could jeopoardize the mission. I can't risk using you." Most of the New Recruits looked crestfallen.

Using us? That sounds wrong for some reason.

Xavier turned his attention to the seniors. "I feel the need to bolster your ranks."

"Bolster your ranks?" This guy REALLY needs a better speech writer.

"I'd like you to welcome your new teammates."

The elevator opened. The Brotherhood stepped out.

(Ooh! Cliffhanger! ...ok, so it's not really a cliffhanger, because we all know what's gonna happen... well, sort of. -evil smirk- The story will get a little more serious from here on out... I hope. By the by, if you spot the quote you get a cookie.)

(1) It literally means prostitute in French, but it can also mean bitch... I like it better than "chienne." Mainly because I can't spell "chienne."