After combat training Beast told us to look out for the ReNew drug, as featured in the Daily Bugle. Of course I was already determined to do so, but having encouragement from our mentor definitely helps.

During the day we learned of two reports that were 'interesting': one was that some guy was kicked out of gym class because he had stuck out his tongue to the teacher. This is not unusual of course, but the fact that he had to report to principal Benson, was. Minor offenses usually are taken care of by the teachers themselves, so something was fishy, as we learned from Benson's pretty secretary Laura (who still owned me a favor). The other notewaorthy incident was something that Clover learned: while she was sitting on the grass hanging out with her popular friends, a shady guy named Stan had offered to buy some samples of ReNew for her. He had his sources and would sell the drug to her for $10 a dose. She pretended not to be interested, but promised Stan to think about it.

During the break we discussed all this, and it was agreed that Clover and I would check out the principal's office after school to see what Def's meeting with the principal was about. Zen and Smoke would try and see what Stan was up to.

This last part was right up Smoke's sleeve. He followed Stan to a shady corner on eleventh avenue and 55th street, where Stan met with a shady man from beyond the river. The deal was closed quickly, with Stan buying for $8 a dose, around 30 doses! Clearly he had a lot of buyers already.

Meanwhile Clover and I were "hanging" around the principal's office at the time Def was supposed to be reporting himself. Of course being a goth he was fashionably late, but when he got there I could see the whole thing through the wall with my vision. And no wonder he was sent out of class -- it appeared that his tongue had grown to be the size of a reptile's! I told Clover while we made off, because the meeting with Benson (who was obviously shocked) wasn't really that long and we wanted to avoid hard questions.

Back at the mansion we discussed these things with Beast. He told Clover to order 3 doses for further examination, and told us to be on the lookout for more information. I asked him to check for a new mutant, suspecting that Def might just have shown the signs, and he said he would discuss the matter with Xavier. Per Beast's request, Clover dialled Stan and ordered 3 doses of ReNew, to be delivered the next day after school.

The next day went by rather quickly, so after school Zen, Clover and I went to the designated area. Zen would stand watch around a corner, in case something happened. I chose to remain in the building, surveying the area for more people than first appeared at the designated spot. Clover would of course have to pick up the drugs at Stan. Fortunately all went according to plan: Clover waited until most of the other clients were gone (after making a mental note of their faces) then proceeded to pick up the drugs. Both Zen and I did not see any special things.

After the deal, Smoke followed Stan to the same corner as before; this time the man showed up with three other thugs, clearly out of Stan's league. Still the deal was made once again. Smoke tried to follow the four dealers but unfortunately he did not get very far before they got into a car and drove away.

Unfortunately for us, today was a friday, which meant that we would have to wait until monday to learn more about the users of ReNew. We were determined to learn more during the weekend. So while we were deciding what to do, Clover remembered that she heard the goths talk about a party saturday and a quick phonecall and a favor later, she knew the location and had some tickets. Of course we had to be there, most of the goths would probably be susceptible to ReNew. So we turned into goths at the mansion that evening, including Zen (well he put on a black robe), and we went to the party.

Evidently ReNew was used in large doses there -- lots of the people had strange effects on their bodies, and most were held in awe by their friends. Smoke heard friends of Def talk about Def's tongue, and the fact that ReNew didn't turn them into freaks. It seemed that the drug didn't take hold on everyone.

While scanning the party for other signs of ReNew it seemed that in a corner, a deal was going the wrong way, and a big man was bullying two younger boys about something. I tried to intervene in a peaceful way, but the man wasn't really interested, and hit me straight on. I tried to fire a warning shot but at this close range it didn't really work out. At that moment a few more of the man's friends came along, luckily Smoke, Zen and Clover had also caught on. I teleported out of the fray and tried to help from a distance. The fight was short and we were the victors (of course), so as to avoid as many questions as possible I teleported us and the unconscious men out of there.

We took the original dealer to the top of a warehouse in the neighbourhood to question him. He had nothing much to say except that he was the underling of a man called "The Finn" and he was simply selling ReNew, and the deal with the two boys was blown off because they wouldn't pay him what he was asking. So we left him on top of the warehouse and returned to the mansion to think about the next day.