Abby joined the drama club. She spent most of her free time playing with costuming and practicing her lines.

Dylan wanted to learn to drive. He was now the head student editor of the school newspaper, and he really needed to be able to get places on his own. He had four parents to pester for rides, but it really bothered him to make them schedule their lives around him.

It was prom time. Dylan signed up for the decoration committee. Abby walked the halls between classes with an ambitious sparkle in her eye.

“I’m going to be prom queen,” she confided in Dylan as he drove her home. “Have you thought about running for prom king?”

Dylan frowned. “Why would I want to be prom king? That’s just a popularity contest.”

“And what’s wrong with a popularity contest?” Abby demanded. “Being popular just means everyone likes you. It’s good when everyone likes you.”

“I guess it works for you,” Dylan said.

“Who are you going ask to be your date?”

“You don’t have to have a date to go to prom,” Dylan said. “That’s such an outdated idea.”

Abby gave her brother a sly look. “You never even try to date,” she said. “If you paid any attention at all, you’d probably know that someone in your class has a crush on you.”

Dylan hit the break a little too hard, throwing them against their seatbelts. “You what?”

“You cut a pretty nice figure, brother mine,” Abby said. “Of course somebody noticed.”

“Who?”

Abby tossed her hair. “Not my secret to tell,” she said. “I’m trying to get her to ask you to prom herself.”

One afternoon, Sawyer found the maid in the kitchen.

“I have taken an inventory of the leftovers in the refrigerator,” he told her, “and we are missing two slices of cake. My analysis indicates that you are the most likely to have eaten them.”

The maid was flabbergasted. “What are you talking about? Why would I eat your cake?”

“I don’t know why you ate our cake,” Sawyer said. “Why is irrelevant.”

“This isn’t fair! How do I know you didn’t eat it and are blaming it on me?”

Sawyer gave her a hard look. “Would I really bother telling you this if I ate it?”

She cringed. “Just don’t tell your moms I’ve been eating their food.”

“If it continues, I can’t be responsible for my actions,” Sawyer told her.

Abby thought long and hard on who would take her to the prom. Even though she could win prom queen regardless of who she went with, she knew that the right arm candy could be a big boost to her chances. She needed someone attractive, but not so attractive that he outshined her. It also helped if he had social connections and enough money to really dress up for the occasion.

She decided that her best candidate was Dion Callender-Doctor. She invited him over to her house after school to do homework together.

“Wow,” Dion said when she brought him in. “This is a really nice place.”

“I know, right?” she said. “The Samples have a long legacy. The family records go back to my great-great-great Grandparents, Susie and Connor Sample. She was a music legend, and he was an award-winning author. There are celebrities all over my family tree. We’ve had money for as long as anyone can remember. We’re really kind of like aristocracy.”

“That’s really impressive,” Dion said, though he seemed a little put off. “You wanted to do homework?”

“I know just the place. We have this picturesque arboretum just through that door. I always go there when I want to think clearly.”

Dion seemed to relax when he walked into the beautiful arboretum. “This really is beautiful,” he admitted.

“My mum and Uncle Hunter planted all the flowers,” Abby said.

“So what are you going to write for our history essay on the Fae Infusion Era?” Dion asked, getting out his notebook.

“I already wrote it,” Abby admitted, “but I have so ideas I didn’t want to use if you’d like them.”

Dion wasn’t terribly good at history, and Abby knew it. That’s why she had suggested they were on that subject. He was happy to let her dictate most of his essay for him.

“Thanks so much!” he said when they were done. “You’re really good at this. I think you might have saved my grade.”

Abby smiled graciously. “We make a pretty good team,” she said. “And I was thinking we’d be the most amazing couple at the prom if you would be my date.”

Dion blanched. “Wow,” he said. “I never thought someone as popular as you would ask me to the prom,” he said. “I’m really flattered. The thing is, I was planning to go with Sherman Ursine-Mentary.”

“That sounds really nice, and I know he’s your best friend,” Abby said, “but I’m sure he wouldn’t mind if you had a real date instead.”

Dion scowled. “We weren’t planning on going as friends,” he said.

Abby blanched. “Oh.”

“Look, I’m really flattered. Um, is there any chance you’d like to do something else sometime? Maybe go out to dinner? I think you’re really nice.”

Abby sighed, maybe just a bit theatrically. “I really like you,” she said. “And I just can’t get the thought out of my head of the two of us on the dance floor. I think we’d just be amazing together. I know it’s a terrible thing to ask, but do you think Sherman would be willing to go out with you some other time instead of prom?”

Dion seemed just a bit mesmerized by the picture she painted. “Yeah,” he said slowly, “we would look pretty great together.”

And that’s how Abby Sample landed her date to the prom. It’s also why Sherman Ursine-Mentary stopped speaking to her.

In the wee hours of the morning, when everyone else was asleep, a long black limousine drew up in front of the Sample estate.

Forest Sample stepped out into the pouring rain and thanked his new driver.

It had been an exciting night. Forest had led an army of minions into Sean Flynn’s office and escorted him out of the the underworld lair.

Flynn had been driven out into the rain alone, swearing that he would be back to retake his empire.

Whatever happened in the future, Forest had achieved his life’s ambition.

He was now the Emperor of Evil.

———-

I couldn’t imagine Abby going to the prom without a date, and of course Story Progression has paired almost everyone off. So I had her pick an interesting guy she was heart-farting for and persuaded him to break up with his boyfriend. Dion is the child of January Callender and our Matt Smith/11th Doctor simalike. I’m not sure about his face. We’ll have to see if he grows into it. Have I mentioned how much I love the genetics in my town?

I’m kind of disappointed in the Evil career track. It was really just skilling. I think there should have been some kind of special interaction that you needed to do to get a job metric, like police officers have to file reports. Maybe intimidate people, win fights, or extract protection money.

Ah well. Forest made it. Sadly, this means that he, his bloodlust, and his messed up love affair will soon be leaving this legacy. He hung around a crazy amount for time for a spare, though. Gen 5 is almost over. And I really had him cranking on his LTW almost the whole time.

On the positive side, I have vampire aging on, but he’s still probably going to live for a couple more generations. I think he’s going to become the Sample legacy’s antihero protector.