Becca Constance Simon-PinetteCalico

Possessing a special bond with her horse, the teenage mutant Calico can give them both powers, which extends to whatever she can imagine. Though reluctant to accept she’s a mutant at first due to her upbringing, she eventually embraces it.

A Controlled World

Becca Constance Simon-Pinette of the Loudoun County Simon-Pinettes lives and grows up on her family’s estate in Clintwood, Virginia. She is raised as a perfect American princess by wealthy and overprotective parents. For example, Becca’s mother leaves her daughter locked in a cupboard for days and prevents her from watching film, TV and music, all in the name of protecting her. Though Becca calls her mother strict and justifies her actions, calling it love. Her mother also teaches her to hate and fear mutants, so when her mutant powers manifest, Becca struggles to accept that she’s a mutant herself.

Cut off from the world, Becca leans on her books and her best friend and horse, Ember, though she struggles to talk to people. One night, Becca awakes with a start and smells smoke. Though she doesn’t shout, as she was taught not to, she goes to the stables in her bare feet and nightgown. Taking Ember, she leaves her house as it burns to the ground.

She soon hears a voice call to her and is hunted by a mysterious monster called the Hag, and meets other teenage mutants experiencing the same thing. The voice directs them to Louisiana and says that the X-Men could save them. They find Anna Marie LeBeau, AKA Rogue, and her X-Men, a splinter group from the rest of the X-Men, arguing and without their leader Charles Xavier, AKA Professor X, who was imprisoned after the fall of Krakoa. The young mutants desperately ask for help, but James Howlett/Logan, AKA Wolverine, can smell death on them and goes on the offensive. Remy LeBeau, AKA Gambit, sets off the Left Eye of Agamotto, a powerful artifact, and it sets off a fight between the teenage and adult mutants. It’s not until Jubilation Lee, AKA Jubilee’s sudden arrival, that everyone calms down. Luckily, this group of X-Men decides to take these mutant outliers into their protection. They ask them their mutant names and Becca calls herself Calico but states that she is no mutant.

Horsepower

Becca shares a powerful psychic connection with her steed, Ember, which can transform into a variety of horse-forms at her command. Such commands include Barnstormer, War Horse, Pegasus Knight, and Destrier War Horse. Often, the commands outfit both Becca and her horse in various forms of body armor. When transformed, she often wields a fiery sword. It seems that these powers may stem from her imagination, suggesting that she possesses a form of psionics, and seems to be superhumanly strong and durable as well. She also has skills in hand-to-hand combat.

Hostiles

Calico faces some fearsome foes, including the followers of the Hag, the monstrous woman who had it out for her and her fellow mutants. Calico also goes up against Graymalkin Prison guards, deadly Sentinel drones in the form of dogs, and ghosts.

Making Friends

Calico grows up cut off from the world, so her friends mostly consist of her horses, and her best friend Ember, her most prized horse. Calico’s first ally in the mutant world, though he may not be aware of it, is Harvey X. Before he dies, Harvey X psychically guides Calico to her fellow teen mutants and to Rogue’s team of X-Men, who become staunch allies while they’re being hunted by the Hag. While under the protection of the X-Men, Calico and the others live at the St. Juniors' family home in Haven, LA, known as Haven House.

Calico becomes close to her fellow teenage mutants, who are dubbed The Outliers, and includes Sofia Yong, AKA Jitter, from Singapore who can access talents and skills, but only for one minute, dubbing it her focus time; Hotoru, AKA Deathdream, from Kyoto who can choose a state of life or death at will, and has a deep connection to the spirit world, able to summon souls and power of the unliving; and Valentin Correa, AKA Ransom, from Buenos Aires, who’s a boxer and has the ability to absorb energy and use it.

A Whole New World

While under Rogue’s charge, Calico and her mutant friends showed off their powers and shared their life stories. Calico’s story was a bit different since she was raised in a secluded fashion where her worldview was quite small, which made her seem more innocent than the others. After they all found out the identity of the mysterious and monstrous woman hunting them, Sarah Gaunt, AKA the Hag, they were soon attacked by her followers. The X-Men defended them and Calico with the others jumped to defend themselves as well. Meanwhile, Rogue battled the Hag elsewhere and defeated her, taking her to Graymalkin Prison, formerly Xavier’s Institute, to be incarcerated. The Hag’s followers ended up limping away from the battle.

Part of living in the St. Juniors’ family home was that Becca and the others had to attend school with their daughter Chelsea. But Becca vehemently refused, hopping up on her horse and called the mutant adults goblins. When Wolverine tried to calm things down, Becca ordered Ember to buck him. Rogue used a firm tone with her and Becca apologized, mistakenly calling her mama. Gambit helped Becca understand that being a mutant was who she was and it didn’t change how she felt about her mom. Becca seemed to accept this new fact, celebrating with Ember and flying off into the sky. Coming back down to Earth, she proudly announced that she was a mutant and going to school. But when she was about to board the school bus, Becca was nervous to leave Ember behind. Chelsea offered her a stuffed animal, Tuffy, which gave her comfort. Sofia told the group to refrain from using their powers, and when they got to school they were greeted by the principal who informed them to keep a low profile, to which Becca shouted that she was a mutant to other students. At some point in the day, her enthusiasm was cut short as she was electrocuted and abducted by Graymalkin Prison’s goons.

Becca was imprisoned and handcuffed alongside Jubilee, one of her X-Men mentors, as well as Dr. Hank McCoy, AKA Beast. Beast attempted to help Becca but the Graymalkin guards hurt him in response. Becca’s family paid for her release, but refusing a ride home from the prison guards, she chose to walk. She could hear her mother’s voice telling her to come to her but Becca refused and called for Ember. With her steed as a war horse, she returned to the prison and together, they tossed two tanks into the prison’s surrounding walls, breaking them down. Her X-Men and Outlier allies were right behind her. After a fight inside the prison, the X-Men reunited with both Becca and Jubilee and headed home to Haven House. When Becca found out that her Outlier friends were there to save her, she hugged them.

Back at Haven House, Becca snuck into a barn and started practicing ballet. Sofia found her and using her stopwatch called on the best male ballet dancer so she could dance with her. They danced until the timer was up. Later, while at the mall with her fellow Outliers, they were hunted by the wolfpack, stealth Sentinel drones in the form of dogs. Deathdream was gravely wounded in the battle that followed, so Jitter called upon her one-minute combat medic skills to heal him. Becca called upon her steed, Ember, and with the command “destrier war horse” she and her horse were outfitted for battle. With Ransom at her side, they fought the dogs as hard as they could. They were eventually joined by their X-Men mentors, defeated the dogs, and looked like heroes to onlookers.

One night, Becca was awakened by Hotoru as was Sofia and Valentin, and beckoned them to follow him. He led them to a boat and they crossed the swamp, as Hotoru explained that they were being called somewhere. They came upon the Dark Artery, a mysterious graveyard near Haven House that’s tied to a mutant from the distant past. Hotoru kept reminding the group not to show fear, which made sense when they encountered the monstrous Ted Sallis, AKA Man-Thing, who burns those that show fear and protects the city of the dead, Penumbra. To pass him, they had to pass a test and tell the truth about themselves. Everyone passed, but Becca held something back. She cried and with encouragement from Sofia, she admitted that the horse that they came to know wasn’t her real horse, who had died during her house fire, and she did not know what “Ember” actually was. With the truth revealed, Man-Thing allowed them all to pass and a voice beckoned them to go deeper inside the underground graveyard. They discovered that while Man-Thing was the protector of the Penumbra, the city itself had a mutant guardian of its own, Lady Henrietta. She revealed that she and those that dwell there had lured them there to take her place under the city’s eternal overlord Shuvahrak, and that Hotoru, given his connection to the unliving, was her obvious replacement.

Hotoru seemed accepting of this new role, announcing and believing that no one cared for him. But Calico and the others came to his defense and fought for him. As such, the city of the dead attacked them, and when it seemed dire, Hotoru told Calico to get to safety, but she returned the command and told him she loved him, to his surprise. The Outliers were soon assisted by their X-Men mentors and Man-Thing, who burned through the fearful and angry ghosts.