[OP: "Demons"--Imagine Dragons]

Rumi brought the towels for Mystique and showed her to the guest room.

She was so awkward about it, Mystique thought it was like this girl had never hung around anyone other than her friends for years.

(She later found out this was pretty much the actual case.)

She also never took off her jacket, though it was not cold inside at all.

Mystique showered and put on a robe, though she didn't need to, but sometimes it was easier to shift her skin without adding clothes on top of it, and, as Morph had pointed out...keeping the form this long was going to be hard.

She risked reverting to her blue form, since it was illegal to put security cameras in the bathroom in most countries, and she couldn't find any while she was there.

It was a relief to let go for a while...but then, she looked out of place in this environment, in her natural form.

She shook her head at herself.

Even in another world, this form wasn't going to fit in... Figured.

Resuming her disguise, she went back out to the main room.

The girls were nowhere to be seen, but Morph was messing with the TV in there.

"This is the most high resolution thing... The picture looks so real," he said. "Better than Cerebro's screens... And there's a million channels on this, but I can't figure out how to use the TV guide at all. I would love to take this apart and figure out how it works."

"Don't," Mystique said, sitting on the couch. "Hmm, it's nice not to use a hard park bench for once."

"Yeah, I could get used to living here," Morph said.

"No, we can't... We have to think about what to do next." Mystique frowned. "What exactly are we doing here? They don't need our help. We must have miscalculated."

"What about the Saja Boys?" Morph said. "Could it have been them?"

"You heard the girls--they're demons. They just have human forms." Mystique shuddered again. "How uncanny."

"Are you sure they're demons? You know, people say that about mutants all the time," Morph said. "Doesn't mean they're right. The girls could just be bigots."

"They were fighting them, and some of them burst into smoke and dust. I think they would know."

"But those demons weren't like these other ones... I'm just not sure. I mean, they didn't feel like it when I was talking to them. They felt off, but...more like a creepy person would feel off, not like I wasn't talking to something human. The other 4 of them sure don't seem to talk or think much."

"If Jinu is human, maybe I could believe that, but the other 4 don't act human."

"We'd have to talk to them to be sure, without them getting away this time," Morph insisted.

"No, I don't want to talk to them anymore. They called their dogs on us." Mystique shook her head. "And we are not sent to help demons. It has to be someone else...maybe someone the girls know...someone who's being threatened by Gwi-Ma, possibly. "

"Okay, fine." Morph didn't want to argue. "We'll go with that for now... Maybe we should just enjoy getting time to rest after all that looking."

He leaned back. "This is a high value couch. I bet it was a few hundred dollars at least."

[I want to cry in pre-inflation prices, because that would be thousands now.]

* * *

"So are we not gonna acknowledge that there are two weirdos in our living room right now?" Mira asked when Rumi finally joined her and Zoey in the studio.

"Well, they seem okay for now..." Rumi said uneasily.

"Yeah, but...what happened to them?" Zoey asked. "I mean, this is the first time Gwi-Ma's minions have even seemed to target anyone who wasn't us...personally. But they did, right? There was no way Jinu didn't call in those other demons on purpose."

"Unless he thought it was us coming and not them," Mira mused. "Maybe they got caught in the crossfire, but now he'll know about them. It's not like they are helping us either way... Ugh, I hate this! Like we needed another problem to deal with right now."

"It's just a minor problem," Rumi said. "As long as they don't do anything else to attract attention, we can protect them, and once we seal the Honmoon, they'll be fine. If anything, this motivates us more, having people who need our help directly."

"Yeah, no pressure." Zoey gestured. "We're good... So, the song..."

They focused on the song and made some more progress.

However, none of them could forget their house guests.

Rumi had other things on her mind also.

She'd already talked to Jinu once, alone, though it hadn't gone very well...and then he'd been on her case about her patterns at the signing.

Still, she thought he'd looked a little like he was touched by that one little girl...like maybe he did have a human side.

But was that even possible?

She felt uneasy about it.

And then just siccing those other demons on two innocent people...which...granted, he was basically doing with a bunch of other hapless fans, so...

But to save himself...from Gwi-Ma...after hundreds of years?

How hard would it be to suffer for that long...?

Was she really one to judge? She couldn't even talk about her patterns with her friends, let alone escape them.

At least not without the Honmoon...

"Rumi? Hello!" Zoey waved at her.

"Huh?" She looked up.

"We asked if you thought the line was good for you." Mira was giving her a weird look. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Rumi said. "But...I'm just not sure my voice is back yet... Maybe I should try to practice it later...after I've had more time to rest."

"Okay, sure," Zoey said. "Maybe we should call it a night. This has taken longer than I thought..."

They left the studio, and the two strangers were both asleep on the couch.

Mira frowned at this.

"Aww," Zoey said. "They must have been so tired... Imagine being out there for days."

"They said they had a job," Mira said. "Why would they be outside for days looking for us? I think they were lying."

"But they were not lying about Gwi-Ma," Rumi said. "We saw it ourselves."

"Yeah, about that," Mira said, walking into the the next room, "did you think they could be lying about that...? What if it was a set up? Think about it, no one is ever aware of demons unless they are us or are demons. They could just be working with Jinu to deceive us. What if they're spies planted in our house, and we fell for it?"

"Oh, wow...that's dark," Zoey said, making scary hand signs. "But I'd think they'd have shown some patterns by now."

"Yeah, we'd have seen something before," Rumi said. "They have to be human."

"How are they not surprised by any of this?" Mira said. "And they said all the garbage about demons earlier...like demons don't eat people? Come on, they were trying to throw us off."

"But then why talk about what they witnessed themselves?" Zoey asked.

"I dunno, it could still be part of their act," Mira said.

"No one is that good at acting," Rumi said. "Besides, why not just pretend they had no clue what was going on if it was an act?"

"I don't know, but I can tell they're hiding something," Mira insisted. "I'm good at reading people."

"Maybe they just lied about having a job," Zoey said. "Maybe they're actually homeless and they just were too ashamed to admit it. They probably just said that to us because they were looking for a place to sleep, and the bathhouse was open...or something like that. They seem kind of out touch anyway, not knowing what a phone was."

"Yeah, that's not being homeless. That's being...I don't know, from some underground group of hoarders or something," Mira said. "There's no way they're being honest about that. They acted like it was their first time in this city."

"But I don't think they're demons," Rumi insisted. "There's just no way they wouldn't have shown something by now...but, if it makes you feel better, we have the cameras... I'll sleep with my sword out."

"Yeah, well, I don't know about that," Mira said. "Maybe we should all sleep in the same room, just in case."

"No!" Rumi said, way too fast. "No, that's fine... I need to think. I want to rest--my voice--and you know I won't rest at if all we share because we'll end up talking all night, so...I'll be fine, trust me. My room is on the opposite side of the tower from the living room anyway, and they'll be in the guest room. We'll know if they leave it."

Mira and Zoey gave her strange looks like they thought this was a flimsy excuse.

"I dunno, Rumi, it's not a bad idea..." Zoey said.

"You two worry too much," Rumi dismissed it and left the room in a hurry.

Mira and Zoey exchanged another glance.

"That was weird, right?" Zoey said. "It wasn't just me?"

"Oh, it was definitely weird," Mira said. "Great...two things to worry about."

"Well, that and the world being in danger," Zoey said.

Mira frowned at her. 

"Right, not helping..." Zoey said.

"Sorry." Mira rubbed her face. "I'm just...stressed. This has been a lot."

"Yeah...I know... Hey, we could still share our room," Zoey offered. "Maybe watch my turtle videos...see if Rumi changes her mind."

"Yeah, I guess..." Mira didn't really want to watch the videos but figured that Zoey needed to decompress.

And neither of them wanted to be alone when the two strangers were creepily hanging around.

* * *

The guest room was huge also.

"I feel like we're kings," Morph said.

Mystique was more worried about showing her true form while she was asleep.

She pulled the covers over her head. "Kick me if I start to slip out."

"Look, with the lights off, no one would be able to tell." Morph flipped the lights off. "There...see?... Wait, fascinating, there's a glow-in-the-dark pathway to the bathroom!"

[I'm making this up, but I think it would be a funny thing for the tower to have.]

"Ugh..." Mystique sighed.

She did not sleep well because she was too worried about the girls coming to check on them in their sleep--she was sure they still suspected them.

And she was right about that.

* * *

But by the next morning, nothing had gone wrong.

Only Zoey had slept well though. Rumi looked as tied as Mira when they appeared for breakfast.

Mira was not a morning person anyway.

Nor was she pacified to find that Mystique had used the kitchen to cook some other food.

It wasn't that she cooked itself, it was that Mira didn't trust it.

"I don't like snack food," was Mystique's short explanation. "So I just made things."

"Are those pancakes?" Zoey bounded into the room. "Wow, it has been a hot minute since I've even had those. They're more an American thing than Korean...but they smell pretty good."

"They're flapjacks," Mystique said, but only because Rogue always called them that.

"Do you like American food?" Morph asked. "Because these are pretty good."

"Well, I was raised in America," Zoey said. "So I've had it a lot, though I like Korean food better, mostly...but pancakes are hard to get wrong."

She grabbed one of the plates and a fork.

"Zoey, don't eat that." Mira grabbed her before she could take any.

"What? He's eating them," Zoey said. 

Mystique gave Mira a strange look. "Did you think I messed with them? Why would I tamper with my own food?"

Mira had no logical reason for it, so she sighed and let go.

Zoey took some anyway. "Hey, these are good..."

"I think I'll just stick with our normal stuff." Rumi had out a line up of food.

"Is there any coffee?" Morph asked.

"Yeah, there..." Rumi pointed at one cupboard. "Espresso and regular."

"Espresso? That's fancy," Morph said.

The espresso machine was fancy indeed. Neither him nor Mystique had any idea how to turn it on. The buttons were not even real, they just looked like flat lights.

[Ah, yes... You know, touch sensitive buttons are the worst ever for us. They always have the hardest time reading our fingers. Why did anyone think they were a good idea?]

Rumi finally got over and tapped it on for them. "Have you never used this before?"

"I guess it's just not that techy where we live," Morph said. "So...Zoey, where in America did you grow up? New York would be the craziest coincidence."

"No, it was in Burbank, California," Zoey said.

"Get out," Morph said. "Our mentor is from California...not Burbank, I think... Actually, I'm not sure... I think she said it was near LA."

"That is Burbank," Zoey said, with the tolerant tone that people always use on those who clearly don't know anything about where they are from.

"Oh..." Morph did not remember much geography outside his own State. "I didn't realize that... I've only been there once for a conference, and maybe for a mission or two, but we didn't sight see. Shine always said it was a crazy State to live in, and she likes New York better mostly, except she misses the weather, so it must be nice."

"Oh, it's great," Zoey said. "Sunny and warm most of the year, not too hot in that city either. The weather over here is kind of intense sometimes." She fanned herself. "So your mentor...Shine, did you say? That's a cool name."

"It's interesting. Her last name used to be Likstar, because her parents or grandparents made this pun name out of it from another language," Morph said. "I only remember that story because I thought it was such a bizarre name."

"Her name was Shine Likstar?" Zoey apparently spoke English well enough to get the joke, but the other two didn't seem to understand it.

Though they seemed to speak English just fine...

But then Morph recalled that they probably just heard them in English, due to the translator app effect for DJs that they'd been told about by their mentors.

"Her parents were weird," Morph said. "But at least it sounds cool. Kevin Sydney is the most boring name in the world."

"Sydney?" Zoey said. "Wow, that is boring."

Rumi shot her a look.

"So what's your last name?" Zoey asked Mystique.

Mystique frowned. "Well, technically, it should be Sydney now, but it's too much work to change it. Raven Darkholme was my full name before."

"That is the coolest last name I've ever heard!" Zoey was enthusiastic. "Like a book!"

"That's what Shine said," Morph laughed. "She said it was like a game of Clue character...or maybe that was Wally, but either way, they love it."

"Darkholme." Zoey said it like she was getting used to it. "Yeah...that's poetic."

"It isn't that special," Mystique said. She didn't want to talk about her real identity. "Raven is fine."

The girls didn't volunteer their last names. As pop stars, they preferred to keep it private.

"Anyway, I wouldn't have guessed you were American," Zoey changed the subject. "Your Korean is perfect. Better than mine, actually."

"Hmm, really?" Morph said, with a knowing look at Mystique. "Thanks."

"So what are you going to do today?" Mystique changed the subject again. "Are you going to find the Saja Boys and take care of them?"

"No." Rumi was picking at her food. "The best way to stop them is to slay at the idol awards, so we're focusing on that. We need the song and choreography to be perfect, and...if we find any demons between now and then, we'll just have to take care of them."

"So...you're letting them walk around free?" Mystique was incredulous. "Why?"

"Because if we attack them in public, the fans will think we murdered them," Mira said dryly. "Or at least that we're poor sports. That would kill our reputation."

"So...you're letting them linger around because of your reputation?" Morph said.

"You don't get it," Rumi said. "If we lose the fans, we can't make the Honmoon. They have to come first."

"I'm still not clear on what the Honmoon thing even is," Morph said. "Why does is have to be the fans? Why not anyone?"

"It could be anyone, but the people most likely to be inspired by us are the fans, and the more of those, the stronger the Honmoon," Rumi said. "That makes sense, right?"

Not to them, but they didn't know what else to ask about it.

"And the Saja Boys are trying to undermine this by stealing your fans?" Mystique still was trying to wrap her head around the idea that two K-pop bands being at war was the real conflict the fate of the world was hanging on. "While their boss, Gwi-Ma--the devil, basically--wants to steal people's souls...for some reason."

"Yep." Mira stabbed her chopsticks into part of her breakfast. "I hate them. Can't wait to send them all back to hell."

"Is she okay?" Morph asked Rumi.

"Oh, yeah, she's fine. That's just her process," Rumi said, as if this was normal behavior.

Morph decided that Mira had to be the Wolverine of this group.

"Okay, so...what do we do then?" he asked.

"I guess...you'll have to follow us around?" Zoey said uncertainly. "I mean...you have to if we want to keep you from being eaten, right? But wait, don't we need some reason for them to be around?"

"Maybe we could be your security," Morph joked. "Since we already were."

"About that, how did you impersonate our security guards?" Mira had figured out by now they weren't actually supposed to be there.

"It was pretty easy to copy those costumes," Morph said. "Sorry about that, by the way. We didn't know how else to approach you."

"You were so convincing though." Zoey was almost impressed. "I totally bought it. How did you pull that off?"

"Practice," Mystique said, sipping her coffee.

Suddenly she felt something in her pocket.

She pulled out a note.

Shine had replied to their message.

"Morph, I think I need to go lie down again," she said. 

"Are you feeling sick?" Morph asked.

She shook her head and walked out of the room.

"I'd better check on her." Morph took the hint. "Sorry, excuse me."

He followed her out.

"Why does she keep calling him Morph?" Mira asked the other two. "He said his name was Kevin."

"Gotta be a nickname," Zoey said, around a mouthful of food. "It's kinda cool, right? I wonder what it's from... Was he in a gang?"

"You let your imagination run way too wild about people," Mira said. "But if he was in a gang, it would be the most cheesy gang ever."

Rumi did not join in the theory making. She frowned after the two strangers.

* * *

"Shine answered." Mystique held up the note as soon as she and Morph were in the bathroom, where they were pretty sure they wouldn't be spied on.

She also resumed her blue form while there.

"Nice to see the real you," Morph commented. "Well...let's see what she said."

Mystique opened it and read aloud.

"Dear Raven and Kevin,

"So glad to hear your mission is going well. (Really? She think it's going well?) I know it probably doesn't feel like it now, but trust me, this is about standard for us.

"I did some digging about the world you're describing, and I believe it may be one in a legend from my time. Of course, it was just a movie in my dimension, but I can easily believe it was real, considering how many people it resonated with.

"In this alternate universe, it's true that demons do eat people. Spirits tend to vary in what their powers are from world to world. You remember I told you about our time in Remnant? There were demonic monsters there that ate people...and sometimes that looked like people, or were people who were turned into monsters by magic.

"As for the boys you mentioned, it's my theory that you are right--they are most likely not true demons. In this world, it seems they use demon as a blanket term for anyone with dark spiritual powers who serves their version of the devil. But if they were truly real demons, you would probably be able to tell, but be on your guard. Without being there myself, I can't sense it, and so I can't be sure. You should try to find some way to verify it yourselves.

"Pray about it and guard yourselves. Remember that you are not immune to their attacks, you just are able to fight back. Don't take any stupid chances unless they are necessary. This is uncertain terrain for me, so I won't be able to give you very specific advice.

"If it is the world I think it is, you can trust the three girls you met, but don't expect them to trust you. You'll have to earn that. I won't give you any further advice on them beyond that, as I think you need to do your own leg work, and it wouldn't help you if I told you.

"The only other thing that I can tell you is that things are not always what they seem. You two should be able to understand that better than anyone else, but you are not the only ones who hide yourselves... Stay in sync with each other and with the Lord and you should be fine. I will pray for your safety and success. Wally also sends his best wishes and says to just be yourselves. That's always good advice--Shine."

"Of course she's heard of this place," Mystique said. "Where has she not heard of?"

"It's just as well," Morph said. "It makes it a little easier on us. This is our first mission..."

He checked his watch. "And the Talis has not helped at all... Wait, I think it says something now."

The watch's display had finally changed.

It now read: "9 days before crisis."

"That's vague," Morph said.

"Isn't that the same day that the Idol Awards are on?" Mystique fingered her hair. "So...there is something that's going to happen that day? For Idol Awards? You've got to be joking. That's really the big moment here?"

"Hey, don't shoot the messenger. I'm just saying what I saw. At least that's something... Wait, this means that we completed our first objective. Finding the girls must have been it, so now it's giving us the new deadline... Wow...no pressure, right?"

"Morph, I am less and less sure about this," Mystique began. "I mean, if demons really do eat people here after all, then how are we supposed to--"

Before she finished, the door opened.

Mystique was so surprised, she forgot that she was not in her disguise.

Rumi had followed them, since she'd thought Mystique was acting weird.

But that was nothing to what she thought when she saw her, stopped short, and stared.

It took about a full second for her to process what she was seeing, and then she screamed...but more like an angry scream than a scared one.

Morph yelped also as she jumped back.

Mystique flinched on instinct and covered her head.

"Rumi?" Mira and Zoey burst into the room faster than you would have thought possible.

Zoey already had her knives out, and Mira was lifting her glave.

At first, they didn't see the problem, since Mystique was still in the bathroom, but Rumi was pointing at her, and they turned and looked.

"Demon!" she said.

"What? Where?" Morph asked.

Mystique wanted to slap him in that moment.

Then he looked back at her.

"Oh, you mean Raven," he said.

"Raven?!" Rumi hadn't actually recognized her.

Small wonder, since her natural form was very different from her disguises.

"Morph!" Mystique cried in exasperation.

"It is her!" Mira cried. "I knew it--I knew there was something about them that was off. Rumi, get back."

Rumi was reaching for her sword, but it was only just starting to form.

"I can't believe you were a demon this whole time!" Zoey cried. "You made us pancakes!"

"Wait, wait--" Morph got in front of Mystique, who was plastering herself to the wall now. "You guys have this all wrong. Raven is not a demon, she's just got blue skin."

"Like a demon," Mira said, with a deadly tone.

"No, no, not like one," Morph insisted. "She's human, all right? She just a mutant."

"Do we look that stupid to you?" Rumi said. "You are clearly a demon."

"How do you know?" Morph switched tactics. "I mean, what are the criteria for it?"

"She's blue!" Mira cried angrily.

"Oh, so now all people who are blue are demons?" Morph said.

"Uh...yeah..." Zoey said. "That's how it works."

"Well, that is just racist," Morph said. 

They stared at him blankly.

"I mean, heck, I can be blue too." Morph switched his skin color.

Mystique wanted to strangle him now.

"Wait? Both of you?" Rumi said. "What? How did you not have patterns?"

"Of course, both of them--I knew it! Gwi-Ma sent you, didn't he?" Mira glared at them. "He wanted you to spy on us, and we fell for it like idiots! Well, I guess we can fix this pretty easily..."

She lunged at them.

Morph caught her arm with an ease that she did not expect.

He was much stronger than he looked, since his mutation allowed him to make his body denser and more muscular if he wanted to.

"Mira, calm down," he said. "We're not demons. We're mutants. Our DNA is just different than yours, that's all. We're not spirits."

"There's no way that's true," Rumi said. "Sorry, but no one who looks like you is not a demon."

Mystique was finding this triggering. She'd been called a demon many times, and so had Kurt, her son...and so had the other mutants, often enough.

Her first instinct was to bolt, but the girls were blocking her escape route.

And Morph wasn't even trying to run. He was thinking he could still talk things out with them.

"Okay, let's just calm down," he tried again. "We can prove to you we're not demons."

"How?" Zoey still had her knives out. 

"We're just shapeshifters. We're not demons." Morph turned into Zoey. "See?"

"Ahhh!" Zoey screamed and jumped.

"Stop that!" Mira said. "That's just wrong. And what do you mean by that? All demons can shape-shift. That's how they hide themselves in the real world, you idiot. Why wouldn't we know that? But their patterns..."

"I still don't see patterns." Rumi was starting to have second thoughts, it sounded like.

Perhaps because Morph was talking like he had no idea how this worked, which would be pretty dumb if he was trying to convince them.

"There are no patterns," Morph said. He shifted to his usual form. "Okay, we can shape-shift, but, again, it's just our mutation. Both of us have the same one, only it looks a little different between us. See, I can do this."

He stretched his hand out like it was elastic, over Mira's blade, and used it to shove her back, not hard, but enough to get some distance between her and him.

Mira looked like she was going to throw up. "That was so wrong..."

"I've never seen a demon who could do that..." Rumi said. "But that doesn't prove anything."

Mystique finally got a grip enough to stand up again, and she sighed. "It's the same thing every time... No matter where we go, people think we're demons or monsters... Why should here be any different? Of course, it just looks like what demons look like here. Is this some kind of cosmic joke at our expense? Just like with Kurt at home..."

She walked up to Morph. "If you think we're demons, you should just cut us."

"Cut you?" Zoey said.

"Do demons bleed?" Mystique asked. 

"No..." Rumi said.

"Then if we do, we're not demons," Mystique said. "And if we don't...but, no, their weapons probably will have no effect on us, if they're spiritual. Shine's never does...so that test won't work."

"I don't think trying to make ourselves bleed is a good idea anyway," Morph said. "Is there anything else demons can't do that we can do? Do they eat?"

"I've seen one do that," Rumi said.

"Do they sleep?" Mystique asked.

"You could've faked that," Mira said.

"I'm not showing you any of the other options..." Morph said. "So...huh...now what?"

"I'm sorry, but...even your eyes are yellow." Rumi pointed to Mystique. "Just like a demon's, so...how can you expect us to believe that you're not one?"

"Really, that too?" Mystique stared at the ceiling. "This is Your idea of a joke? Making me look like what they think a demon is?"

"Wait a moment," Morph said, "I saw before that not all demons are blue, most are other colors."

"So what?" Mira said.

"I guess nothing," Morph said. "I thought I had something there...but she's not one, I swear. We're both mutated humans, I keep telling you. And if we were demons, wouldn't we have just teleported away by now?"

The girls hesitated.

"No way," Mira then said.

"Yeah, no way," Zoey agreed, then she threw at least two of her knives.

Mystique yelped and tried to duck, but it was not necessary.

Morph made his arm stretch into a small shield, and the knives stuck into it like it was putty...which it was, because that was how his mutation worked.

Zoey gasped.

And then nothing happened. They didn't even hurt. Morph was hard to injure as it was, and the knives were made out of energy more than sharp points. Usually all that hurt him were sonic blasts anyway.

"What...the heck?" Rumi gaped.

"They're immune?" Mira said incredulously. "Maybe this is a new kind of demon."

"So even after seeing that, you still don't believe it?" Mystique stated. "Really? What else do we need to show you?"

She pulled down her robe sleeve, revealing the scar she had from a bullet wound she'd gotten the year before.

Though it was mostly faded by now (maybe it would go away entirely), she was pretty hard to scar also.

"Do demons have scars?" she asked.

"They could look like they do," Mira said, but it was clear she was starting to lose some of her confidence.

Rumi very cautiously tapped Morph's shield. "How did...you do that?"

"My body is like plastic," Morph said calmly. "I can mould it. That's how I shape-shift. The coloring is the harder part, but I got good at that too. I don't think the demons you're talking about are that specific, right?"

"No, I think they just use illusions..." Rumi fingered the shield. "This feels pretty real. I don't know, girls--maybe they're telling the truth."

"And we're just supposed to believe that?" Mira said. "I've never heard of a mutant... What does that even mean?"

"If you ladies would put the weapons down, we'd tell you everything," Morph offered. "No need to get all stab happy, okay? My friend Logan is just Iike this. Took me forever to get him to stop pulling out his claws on me."

"I thought he liked you best," Mystique said.

"Okay, so I might have been shifting how much it was between you and me on that one," Morph corrected. "But still."

"If they don't trust us, we should just go," Mystique objected. "I'm not waiting here if they don't like us. Besides, I've been called a demon enough times to last me the rest of my life." With a frown.

Finally, Rumi seemed to show the slighest bit of sympathy for them in her expression. "That must be rough... I mean...if you're telling the truth... Mira, we can at least hear them out. Maybe it is a different kind of power."

"What? Like they're cursed by Gwi-Ma to look like demons?" Mira scoffed.

"Well, you know, that is what some people say..." Morph offered.

He was joking, since a lot of people said that mutants were cursed by God, but the girls took him completely literally.

"Oh, that's awful." Zoey lowered her knives. "Well, you should tell us all about it then."

Mystique couldn't believe that had worked... Were they really that easily convinced?

[Not sure I'd call 5 minutes of them almost stabbing them easily convinced.]

* * *

A minute later, they all had seated themselves back in the living room.

To be accurate, most of them had sat, but Mira remained standing, looming over them with her weapon, like she was the grim reaper.

It made Mystique uneasy.

Morph wasn't sure exactly how to describe mutants to people who'd never heard of it, but he told the girls about the X-men being a group of mutants who helped humanity where they could.

"We're kind of like you," he said. "We fight, but no one knows it, mostly. We all have powers because of our X-gene having the mutation, but it's with each person's body, so none of us have the same exact power. Even Raven and I have two different kinds of shape-shifting. I'm like clay, she's more like a chameleon."

Mystique shifted her skin to look green and then to blend into the couch and background.

"Whoa..." Zoey was impressed.

"This is a pretty elaborate story to make up..." Rumi was starting to calm down at least. "So, you can't teleport?"

"No, but her son can." Morph gestured at Mystique.

"Morph," she said sharply.

"Right, I guess I'm not helping," he said sheepishly.

"Why can your son do that?" Mira asked. "Is he a demon?"

"He's been called that many times." Mystique sounded a little touchy. "But he's actually a monk."

"What a twist." Rumi rubbed her forehead. "I don't understand this... As far as we know, only demons have powers like that."

"Well, you girls have powers that let you sing and summon weapons, from what you told us yesterday," Morph pointed out. "You know, in our culture, a lot of people would think you're the demons."

"What?!" Rumi reacted way too fast to that. "That's ridiculous! We fight demons--how could anyone think we were the same as them!"

"That was my point though," Morph said. "We fight bad guys too, but people still think that we're devils or monsters or freaks, and I guess you three are no exception to that...but I swear we really are just humans with slightly different genes. That's really all. Heck, you could have us tested--"

"No, they can't do that," Mystique said. "Even if that would convince them, which I doubt, no doctor can find out about us. What if we got written up? There goes our private life."

"There's no way we can do that." Rumi shook her head. "Okay...well...let's say I believe you...and maybe I could see why you didn't show us this immediately, since...you kind of saw how we feel about demons...but...does that mean you weren't honest about why you were here either? How did you get mixed up with the Saja Boys if you're not demons and you're not...well, normal?"

This was a real question.